Dakar 2020, Stage 4: Peterhansel fastest, Sainz's lead halved

Wednesday's Neom - Al-'Ula stage included the marathon's longest timed test so far at 453km, which was split by an 80km neutralised zone and was completed by Peterhansel in just over four hours.

The 13-time Dakar champion was sixth in the starting order, but his X-raid Mini buggy was the third car to arrive at the finish line and had clocked the fastest time at all but the first waypoint.

Squadmate Sainz looked on course to minimise the damage from having to open the road, but gave up over four minutes in the final 100 kilometres of the test.

This means Toyota driver Al-Attiyah, who had entered the day as Sainz's closest rival and was a close second to Peterhansel through the stage, now trails the leader by just three minutes.

Al-Attiyah had received a three-minute penalty after Tuesday's stage as he was adjudged to have impeded Sainz.

The Wednesday stage win has elevated Peterhansel to third place overall behind his two fellow Dakar champions, with his gains coming at the expense of Mini driver Orlando Terranova and Toyota's Yazeed Al-Rajhi.

Al-Rajhi had been fastest at the opening waypoint but ended the stage 11m30s off Peterhansel's pace.

Yet this was enough for host country Saudi Arabia's leading representative Al-Rajhi to overhaul Terranova by three seconds in the general classification.

Dakar 2020's surprise package Mathieu Serradori continued to keep the pace in his Century buggy, finishing fifth on the day and retaining sixth place overall.

He outpaced Al-Attiyah's Toyota Gazoo squadmates Giniel de Villiers and Bernhard ten Brinke, who make up the top eight in the standings.

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso, who had entered the day 32nd overall after lengthy damage repairs on Monday, was 26 minutes off the pace in his Toyota.

Elsewhere, there was a roll for fellow Toyota driver Erik van Loon and a lengthy stoppage for two-time champion Nani Roma, contesting his first Dakar with German marque Borgrward.

General classification (top 10):

Pos.	#	Driver / Co-driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	305	Carlos Sainz Lucas Cruz	Mini	15h12m12s
2	300	Nasser Al-Attiyah Mathieu Baumel	Toyota	15h15m15s	3m3s
3	302	Stephane Peterhansel Paulo Fiuza	Mini	15h23m54s	11m42s
4	309	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Konstantin Zhiltsov	Toyota	15h35m22s	23m10s
5	311	Orlando Terranova Bernardo Graue	Mini	15h35m25s	23m13s
6	315	Mathieu Serradori Fabian Lurquin	Century	15h39m7s	26m55s
7	304	Giniel de Villiers Alex Haro	Toyota	15h46m52s	34m40s
8	307	Bernhard ten Brinke Tom Colsoul	Toyota	15h56m52s	44m40s
9	306	Martin Prokop Viktor Chytka	Ford	16h21m53s	1h9m41s
10	324	Yasir Seaidan Alexy Kuzmich	Mini	16h42m37s	1h30m25s

Trucks: Karginov moves into the lead

Kamaz driver Andrey Karginov leads the Trucks classification after four stages, following a day that yielded a second stage win for his squadmate Anton Shibalov.

Shibalov jumped ahead of the road-opening Karginov in the stage rankings in the final stretch, but the latter still took more than enough time out of Maz driver Siarhei Viazovich to assume the lead of the marathon.

Karginov now heads Viazovich by 11 minutes, with Shibalov a further four down.

Dmitry Sotnikov had made it a Kamaz 1-2-3 on the day but is unlikely to feature in the podium conversation as he is two hours down in the general classification.

The Russian manufacturer's reigning champion Eduard Nikolaev has continued to struggle in 2020 edition, surrendering nearly half an hour to sit 1h11m26s behind Karginov after four stages.

SxS: Guthrie grabs Red Bull's first stage win

Mitch Guthrie opened the Red Bull junior programme's account in the 2020 Dakar, taking a first stage win in the Overdrive OT3.

A late setback for erstwhile stage leader Francisco Lopez paved the way for Guthrie to win the stage by 19 seconds over Aron Domzala.

Austin Jones made it three Americans in the top three on the day.

Jose Antonio Hinojo Lopez now leads the rally, having jumped ahead of Lopez and overnight leader Casey Currie, who make up the top three.

Sergey Karyakin and Jones are fourth and fifth overall respectively, the latter just 7m30s off the lead.

Guthrie's fellow Red Bull representative Cyril Despres didn't make it to stage finish on Tuesday and will now restart the rally under the 'Dakar Experience' rule in the fifth stage.