Lategan charges into overall lead with Dakar stage 4 win

While the Dakar Rally is a contest of endurance, there are times where fortune favors the bold. Wednesday's fourth marathon 452-km (281-mile) stage proved the latter for Henk Lategan, who charged to a decisive victory with his Toyota Hilux. The South African bested runner-up Nasser Al Attiyah by more than seven minutes, enough for him to make up for the flurry of tire punctures he'd suffered yesterday and seize the overall lead of the rally by 3m5s over the Qatari.

"Yesterday, we had a total of nine punctures. It's unbelievable. I think that's a record in three days," said Lategan. "I was lost. I didn't know what to do on the rocks, whether to slow down or not, attack or not. Today I decided to forget all that and just go for it. It's a lottery anyway. We got through the rocks today, we could attack, and we made two small navigation errors, but everyone must have had some.

"We're going to go and check the car. Every time we get a puncture at the rear, so I think it happens when the front wheels lift the rocks. It's unpredictable. We played Russian roulette today!"

Further back, the Goczał clan turned out in force for the Energylandia Rally Team, with the father, Marek, third on the stage at 14m15s back, the son, Eryk, fourth at 17m36s, and the uncle, Michał, sixth at 19m53. The Poles will be delighted to have surrounded Sebastien Loeb, fifth at 17m54s.

The Toyotas and Dacias are perched at the summit of the overall ranking, but the Ford Raptors remain within striking distance. After his big stage win on Tuesday, America's Mitch Guthrie struggled at the front of the field, losing almost 44 minutes, but Ford teammates Mattias Ekstrom – third overall, 13m behind – and Carlos Sainz Sr., fourth at 15m53, are in a great position going into the latter half of the marathon-refuge stage, which they will begin in 12th and 13th position.

It was the end of the road for the title holder in the Ultimate class, who had already delivered a subdued performance since the start of this year's Dakar. In the end, it was mechanical gremlins that did Yazeed Al Rajhi in as his Toyota Hilux gave up the ghost near the midpoint of the stage. The Saudi may resume the race after the marathon-refuge stage, but with no chance of fighting for the podium.

In the Stock category, the Defender Rally team solidified its hold on the front with a 1-2-3 sweep from French Dakar legend Stephan Peterhansel, Sara Price and Rokas Baciuska, as the all-time Dakar win leader led home the American by 5m12s and the Lithuanian by 11m52s. Baciuska leads overall by a comfortable 42m36s over Toyota's Ronald Basso, with Peterhansel and Price looming close behind the Frenchman in third and fourth as they try to claw back time from earlier mechanical issues.

Like Lategan in the Ultimate class, throwing caution to the win continues to work for Tosha Schareina in the motorcycles, as the Spaniard took his second straight stage win. Dakar riders who can win from the front of the field are few and far between. The Monster Energy Honda HRC rider did so today with a barnstorming performance that saw him alone at the front for half of the special en route to his fourth stage win so far in the event.

Schareina seized the overall lead to boot, although his American teammate Ricky Brabec is inside the same second. The pair are in a dead heat after five days of racing, although the Spaniard holds the lead by virtue of his better performance in today's stage.

Another American, Skyler Howes, is just 10 seconds back, having made it a 1-2-3 for Honda on Wednesday's stage. On the flip side, Adrien Van Beveren conceded another five minutes and is now teetering on the edge of the top 10, a full 27m24s behind Schareina.