Stephane Peterhansel's hopes of defending his Dakar Rally title effectively disappeared on Sunday after the Frenchman's electric Audi suffered a smashed rear axle on the first stage in the Saudi desert and he lost more than five hours.
Toyota driver Al Attiyah's closest rival is now Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, a nine-times world rally champion, for the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team. Peterhansel's team mate Carlos Sainz, a three-times Dakar winner who was second after Saturday's prologue, lost his way in the desert and ended the day more than two hours adrift of Al Attiyah.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more: