DAKAR: Loeb wins again, but Peterhansel leads

Sebastien Loeb claimed his second stage victory of the Dakar rally raid, holding off Nani Roma, but it is Loeb's Peugeot teammate Stephane Peterhansel who enjoys the overall event lead after Friday's fifth stage through the high plains of Bolivia, which was reduced in length shortened to 219 kilometers due to poor weather.

Although Roma cut into Loeb's big lead in the final portion of the stage, the Spaniard's Toyota still finished 44 seconds behind rally legend Loeb, who rebounded from mechanical delays in Thursday's stage. Peterhansel, a minute and a half behind Loeb on the stage, capitalized on navigational errors by Mikko Hirvonen and Giniel De Villiers to take the overall lead by 1m09s over Loeb.

In the truck category, Gerard de Rooy grabbed a second consecutive stage victory to take command of the lead. A Kamaz truck was again runner-up, but this time it was Eduard Nikolaev, who also takes second place in the general standings.

Among the motorcycles, Sam Sunderland claimed the stage win and overall lead.The Englishman was the only rider not to get lost in the Bolivian dunes and became the fifth different winner in as many stages.

In the quad class, Kees Koolen took his first stage victory on the Dakar with a big advantage over the day's runner-up Gustavo Gallego.