Sainz takes stage seven of Dakar Rally

Carlos Sainz secured his second victory of this year's Dakar Rally in the seventh stage of the famous race on Sunday. Following a rest day on Saturday, 2010 winner Sainz took advantage of conditions that favoured his buggy to triumph in Salta, Argentina. Nani Roma still leads the way in the overall standings, but it was experienced Spaniard Sainz who took the limelight with his 27th Dakar stage victory. Sainz, nicknamed El Matador, finished four minutes and 24 seconds ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah after the Qatari driver was made to pay for a navigation error, and now sits sixth in the overall standings. Stephane Peterhansel was third, despite his progress being halted by llama herds on the course on several occasions. As a result, Frenchman Peterhansel - winner of stage six on Friday - was only able to claw back one minute and 52 seconds from overall leader Roma, who finished fourth. South African Giniel de Villiers suffered an early puncture, but strengthened his grip on third place as Orlando Terranova was left to rue a couple of navigation mistakes. De Villiers now leads Argentinian Terranova by six minutes and 11 seconds.