Stephane Peterhansel claimed his 33rd win in the car category when he and co-driver Jean Paul Cottret brought their Peugeot home ahead of team mates Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz. The third car in the team, driven by overall rally leader Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, finished in third.
2015 Dakar winner Nasser Al Attiyah and co-driver Matthieu Baumel were the first of the MINIs to cross the line. They were fourth, nearly a minute ahead of the fourth Peugeot piloted by Cyril Despres and David Castera.
The first Toyota home was that of Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk in sixth. They finished 16 seconds ahead of the South African pair of Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie. Geniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz could only manage 11th.
The other South Africans in the category all made it safely to the finish, Corbett and Mohr in 31st, Matthews and Burke in 37th and Reitz and Greyling in 48th.
Overall Loeb and Elena still lead the car category. Peterhansel and Cottret have moved up to second with Al Attiyah and Baumel in third. Poulter and Howie are now in fourth ahead of Sainz and Cruz while de Villiers and von Zitzewitz have dropped to sixth.
Corbett and Mohr are now in 32nd in the overall ranking with Matthews and Burke two places further back. Reitz and Greyling continue their climb up the log and are now 59th.
All of the vehicles that complete today’s fourth stage will be locked in a secure Parc Ferme tonight before tackling stage five from Jujuy to Uyuni with no mechanics allowed to work on the vehicles.
