ARICA (Chile), Jan 10: Defending champion Stephane Peterhansel boosted his chances of an 11th Dakar Rally title on Wednesday, extending his lead as the marathon endurance race crossed from Peru into Chile.

The French driver was second on the fifth stage, a 172km timed run from Arequipa to Arica, finishing 1min 23sec behind Mini team-mate Nani Roma of Spain.

But Peterhansel saw his overnight lead increase from 5min 16sec to 9min 54sec over Qatar's Nasser al-Attiyah, the 2011 champion, who finished seventh on the stage, six minutes behind Roma after getting lost on the testing desert track.

Al-Attiyah, who had already seen Buggy team-mate Carlos Sainz, the 2010 champion, fall badly out of contention, due to navigational errors after he had led the drivers off on the road to Chile having won the previous day's stage.

NASCAR driver Robby Gordon was third on the stage in his Hummer with South Africa's Giniel De Villiers, in a Toyota, in fourth, while Sainz, in damage-limitation mode, was fifth.

In the moto section, France's David Casteu, on a Yamaha, took the honours in one hour 39.42min with overall leader Olivier Pain, also on a Yamaha, 1min 09sec behind to stay on top of the overall standings with a 1min 15sec lead over his compatriot.

Results (fifth stage from Arequipa in Peru to Arica in Chile): Auto: Stage: 1. Nani Roma (ESP/Mini) 1hr 49min 40sec, 2. Stephane Peterhansel (FRA/Mini) 1:23,    3. Robby Gordon (USA/Hummer) 1:41, 4. Giniel De Villiers (RSA/Toyota) 1:51, 5. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Buggy) 3:41, 6. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS/Mini) 5:10, 7. Nasser al-Attiyah (QAT/Buggy) 6:01, 8. Guilherme Spinelli (BRA/Mitsubishi Racing) 6:41, 9. Orlando Terranova (ARG/BMW) 7:15, 10. Carlos Sousa (POR/Great Wall) 7:54.

Overall: 1. Stephane Peterhansel (FRA/Mini) 10hr 55min 32sec, 2. Nasser al-Attiyah (QAT/Buggy) 9:54, 3. Giniel De Villiers (RSA/Toyota) 33:50, 4. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS/Mini) 37:35, 5. Nani Roma (ESP/Mini) 37:43, 6. Guerlain Chicherit (FRA/SMG)    56:34, 7. Ronan Chabot (FRA/SMG) 1hr 10min 35sec, 8. Bernard Errandonea (AND/SMG)    1 h 18:17, 9. Boris Gadasin (RUS/G-Force Proto) 1 h 31:46, 10. Pascal Thomasse (FRA/Buggy Md Rallye) 1 h 32:46.

Moto: Stage: 1. David Casteu (FRA/Yamaha) 1hr 39min 42sec, 2.Olivier Pain (FRA/Yamaha) 1:09, 3. Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP/KTM) 2:58, 4. Alessandro Botturi (ITA/Husqvarna) 3:25, 5. Cyril Despres (FRA/KTM) 4:07, 6. Stefan Svitko (SVK/KTM) 4:40, 7. Francisco Lopez Contardo (CHI/KTM) 4:47, 8. Helder Rodrigues (POR/Honda) 4:52, 9. Alain Duclos (FRA/Sherco) 5:01, 10. Yvan Jakes (SVK/KTM) 5:45.

Overall: 1. Olivier Pain (FRA/Yamaha) 11hr 51min 29sec, 2. David Casteu (FRA/Yamaha) 1:15,    3. Cyril Despres (FRA/KTM) 6:07, 4. Ruben Faria (POR/KTM) 13:34, 5. Jordi Viladoms (ESP/Husqvarna) 13:36, 6. Alessandro Botturi (ITA/Husqvarna) 14:00, 7. Jakub Przygonski (POL/KTM) 19:00, 8. Javier Pizzolito (ARG/Honda) 25:45, 9. Helder Rodrigues (POR/Honda) 25:58, 10. Alain Duclos (FRA/Sherco) 27:49.—AFP