Tough stage for Corbett

It was another tough day for South African Dakar Rally competitors Mark Corbett and Francois Jordaan (CR4 buggy) on Wednesday.

Problems with a broken wheel bearing on the Toyota-engined, two-wheel-drive buggy forced them to stop repeatedly throughout the 377-kilometre special stage 10 between Iquique and Arica in Chile. They finally reached the overnight bivouac with the 56th-fastest time of the day after losing around three hours.

With the 8 000-kilometre endurance rally about to enter Peru for the first time for the final four stages before Sunday's finish in Lima, the pair found themselves in 26th position overall and fourth in the two-wheel-drive category of the top T1 class.

Overall leader after nine completed stages (stage six on January 6 was cancelled because of bad weather) and nearly 3 000 km of high-speed racing through the toughest of terrains is France's Stéphane Peterhansel in a turbo-diesel, four-wheel-drive Mini. The nine-time Dakar winner (three wins on a motorcycle and six in a car) is a relatively slim 19 minutes ahead of Spaniard Nani Roma in another Mini, who in turn has American Robbie Gordon (Hummer) less than a minute behind.

Gordon was disqualified from the race on Wednesday due to an irregular modification to his engine, but was continuing to race under appeal.

South Africa's Giniel de Villiers, winner of the 2009 Dakar, is fourth in a Toyota Hilux and team-mate Duncan Vos is 10th overall.

Corbett, competing in his first Dakar, and Jordaan, who navigated De Villiers to seventh place in the 2004 Dakar, started Wednesday's stage in 82nd position on the road, behind 54 cars and 27 trucks, after finishing Tuesday's stage in 55th position following a two-hour penalty for missing a waypoint.

"It was a terrible day in the office, although it started quite well," said Jordaan. "We managed to pass about 30 vehicles but then a rear wheel bearing broke. We stopped dozens of times to cool it down with water. We were very worried about the dunes, but we made it and got all the difficult waypoints. We had to slow right down to preserve the bearing so that we could complete the stage and also the 250-km liaison section that followed to the bivouac."

Their pit crew worked late into the night in the service area repairing the car for Thursday's special stage 11.

The surviving competitors will break new ground with the first-ever stage in Peru, a 478-km test that will be run in two sections separated by a 131-km tarmac link. There will be a short section of dunes and a number of river crossings.

Stage 10 Results - Cars

1 Roma (ESP) Périn (FRA) Mini 03:59:37
2 Peterhansel (FRA) Cottret (FRA) Mini 00:00:21
3 De Villiers (RSA) Von Zitzewitz (GER) Toyota 00:07:44
4 Gordon (USA) Campbell (USA) Hummer 00:14:14
5 Ten Brinke (NED) Baumel (FRA) Mitsubishi 00:29:47
6 Leal Dos Santos (POR) Fiuza (POR) Mini 00:31:56
7 Novitzkiy (RUS) Schulz (GER) Mini 00:31:56
8 Sousa (POR) Garcin (FRA) GWM 00:43:47
9 Garafulic (CHI) Picard (FRA) BMW 00:45:00
10 Alvarez (ARG) Graue (ARG) Toyota 00:53:44
16 Vos (RSA) Howie (RSA) Toyota 01:17:34
56 Corbett (RSA) Jordaan (RSA) CR4 04:10:34

Overall Positions After Stage 10 - Cars

1 Peterhansel (FRA) Cottret (FRA) Mini 28:41:12
2 Roma (ESP) Périn (FRA) Mini  00:19:05 
3 Gordon (USA) Campbell (USA) Hummer  00:19:51  
4 De Villiers (RSA) Von Zitzewitz (GER) Toyota 01:01:33 
5 Novitzkiy (RUS) Schulz (GER) Mini 02:00:55 
6 Sousa (POR) Garcin (FRA) GWM 02:27:53 
7 Alvarez (ARG) Graue (ARG) Toyota  03:24:58 
8 Ten Brinke (NED) Baumel (FRA) Mitsubishi 03:58:22 
9 Van Loon (NED) Scholtalbers (NED) Mitsubishi 03:59:31 
10 Vos (RSA) Howie (RSA) Toyota 04:01:54 
26 Corbett (RSA) Jordaan (RSA) CR4 13:35:12

Stage 10 Results - Bikes

1 Barreda Bort (ESP) Husqvarna 04:18:43 
2 Coma (ESP) KTM 00:01:32 
3 Després (FRA) KTM 00:03:39 - 
4 Rodrigues (POR) Yamaha 00:05:16 - 
5 Viladoms (ESP) KTM 00:08:48 - 
6 Svitko (SVK) KTM 00:09:44 - 
7 Ullevalseter (NOR) KTM 00:10:34 - 
8 Pain (FRA) Yamaha 00:14:41 - 
9 Verhoeven (NED) Sherco 00:14:59 - 
10 Faria (POR) KTM 00:15:30 -
18 Curtis (RSA) KTM 00:35:09 -
92 Raaf (RSA) KTM 03:01:21 -

Overall Positions After Stage 10 - Bikes

1 Després (FRA) KTM 33:07:39
2 Coma (ESP) KTM 00:00:21 
3 Rodrigues (POR) Yamaha 00:45:56 - 
4 Viladoms (ESP) KTM 01:18:52 - 
5 Svitko (SVK) KTM 01:24:38 - 
6 Farres Guell (ESP) KTM 01:35:21 - 
7 Ullevalseter (NOR) KTM 01:56:22 
8 Pain (FRA) Yamaha 02:08:22 - 
9 Botturi (ITA) KTM 02:15:51 
10 Faria (POR) KTM 02:40:27 
26 Curtis (RSA) KTM 06:15:32 
86 Raaf (RSA) KTM 21:43:44