Guthrie takes Dakar stage five as Lategan stays top

Toyota's Henk Lategan retained the overall lead in the Dakar Rally on Thursday after American Mitch Guthrie Jr led a fifth stage one-two-three for Ford in the Saudi Arabian desert.

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South African Lategan, last year’s overall runner-up, was 17th in the 371km stage from the Al-Ula bivouac to Hail with Qatari rival Nasser Al-Attiyah 16th for Dacia to close the gap to three minutes and 17 seconds.

“It was really, really, really difficult, one of the most difficult stages I've had to open,’ said Lategan.

“There were no bike tracks and a lot of the tracks were really, really small tracks. The rain washed a lot of them away.”

Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom remained third for Ford, five minutes and 38 seconds off the lead.