The completion of the sixth stage of the Dakar Rally marks the halfway point of the event, and the competitors now head into a day of rest before stage seven begins on Sunday.
Here are some of today’s highlights:
In the cars class, Carlos Sainz continued to build on his advantage over Nasser Al-Attiyah, while Stephane Peterhansel won his second stage of the rally. Sainz and Al-Attiyah, finished second and third, 1:33 and 3:22 behind, respectfully.
Fernando Alonso ran within the top five for the majority of the stage, however, the two-time Formula One champion eventually fell short to Mathieu Serradori with 50 kilometers remaining and finished sixth overall.
Overall: Carlos Sainz holds an advantage of 7:48 over Nasser Al-Attiyah.
In bikes, Jose Ignacio Cornejo and Kevin Benavides showed speed early on, but overall leader Ricky Brabec took the lead just past the 200 km point and held on to won his second stage.
Brabec defeated Joan Barreda Bort by a margin of 1:34, while Matthias Walkner finished third, 2:45 behind.
Overall: Ricky Brabec holds an advantage of 20:56 over Pablo Quintanilla.
In side by sides, Gerard Farres Guell finished first, but was assessed a two-minute penalty that bumped him him down to second in the rankings, 0:38 behind overall leader Francisco Lopez Contardo. Reinaldo Varela finished third, 3:37 back.
Overall: Francisco Lopez Contardo holds an advantage of 9:48 over Casey Currie.
In quads, Simon Viste dominated, winning by 3:25 over Ignacio Casale. Alexandre Giroud finished third, 3:36 behind.
Stage 3 winner Giovanni Enrico retired when his quad experienced mechanical issues 210 kilometers in, while Romain Dutu, who was fastest in the previous stage, crashed out early.
Overall: Ignacio Casale holds an advantage of 38:14 over Simon Viste.
In trucks, overall leader Andrey Karginov extended his lead by nearly four and a half minutes by winning his second stage.
Karginov defeated Kamaz teammate Anton Shibalov by 4:21. Siarhei Viazovich finished third, 12:32 back.
Overall: Andrey Karginov holds an advantage of 19:14 over Anton Shibalov.
Stage Wins:
Cars: [2] Carlos Sainz (Stage 3 and 5), [2] Stephane Peterhansel (Stage 4 and 6), [1] Vaidotas Zala (Stage 1) and [1] Giniel De Villiers (Stage 2)
Bikes: [2] Toby Price (Stage 1 and 5), [2] Ricky Brabec (Stage 3 and 6), [1] Ross Branch (Stage 2) and [1] Jose Ingacio Cornejo (Stage 4)
Side-by-sides: [2] Gerard Farres Guell (Stage 3 and 6), [1] Aron Domzala (Stage 1), [1] Francisco Lopez Contardo (Stage 2), [1] Mitchell Guthrie (Stage 4) and [1] Cyril Despres (Stage 5)
Quads: [3] Ignacio Casale (Stage 1, 2, and 4), [1] Giovanni Enrico (Stage 3), [1] Romain Dutu (Stage 5) and [1] Simon Viste (Stage 6)
Trucks: [2] Anton Shibalov (Stage 1 and 4), [2] Andrey Karginov (Stage 3 and 6), [1] Siarhei Viazovich (Stage 2) and [1] Dmitry Sotnikov (Stage 5)
Highlights of Stage 6 will air on NBCSN tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET. The rally runs through Jan. 17.