CORDOBA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah clinched his fourth stage victory of this year's Dakar Rally as Carlos Sainz edged closer to his second title here on Friday.
Al-Attiyah finished the 369km timed section of the route from San Juan to Cordoba in five hours, two minutes and 22 seconds, more than 11 minutes ahead of Argentina's Lucio Alvarez. South Africa's Giniel de Villiers was third, 13 minutes off the pace, as Toyota swept the podium.
Spaniard Sainz, who won the rally in 2010, crossed the line in sixth place in his Peugeot. He holds a 46-minute lead over second-placed Al-Attiyah ahead of the final 120km timed section around Cordoba on Saturday.
"There is still one stage left. We will try to do our best and concentrate to keep our position," Al-Attiyah said. "Today was very, very tough. It was easy to make a mistake or to crash, because it was really sandy with a lot of big trees, but this is the Dakar".
France's defending champion Stephane Peterhansel saw his hopes of a 14th Dakar title fade when he crashed his Peugeot. He finished Friday's stage more than an hour behind Al-Attiyah.
It was also a wretched day for Dutchman Bernhard ten Brinke, who was forced to withdraw from the event after his Toyota suffered mechanical problems.
In the motorcycle section, Australia's 2016 Dakar champion Toby Price won Friday's stage, two minutes ahead of Honda's Argentine Kevin Benavides and almost three minutes quicker than KTM teammate Antoine Meo of France.
Austria's Matthias Walkner remains the leader in the general classification, more than 22 minutes ahead of Benavides, with Price another five minutes in arrears.
China's Zhao Hongyi is 74th in the overall standings after finishing 77th in Friday's stage.
