Sainz advantage trimmed in Dakar

De Villiers (left) now trails Sainz (right) by just over three minutes

Former world rally champion Carlos Sainz has seen his lead in the Dakar Rally cut to just over three minutes after he finished fourth on stage six.

Sainz was seven minutes 17 seconds slower than stage winner Robby Gordon, who posted a time of two hours 58 minutes 57 seconds in his Hummer.

South African Giniel De Villiers, second overall, finished third, six minutes and 52 seconds behind Gordon.

In the motorcycle category Jordi Viladoms claimed his maiden stage win.

The Spanish KTM rider completed the 394km (244.8 mile) timed section 57 seconds ahead of compatriot and team-mate Marc Coma, who retained the overall lead in the motorcycle standings.

"I'm really happy but a little bit surprised too," said Viladoms.

"I knew I was riding fast as I managed to catch up Cyril Despres but I thought Marc (Coma) and Isidre (Esteve) were way in front."

Viladoms moved up to sixth in the standings while Coma leads Esteve by 12 minutes.

Stage six covered a total of 817km (507.6 miles) from Tan Tan in Morocco to Zouerat in Mauritania.

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Stage six results:

Cars:
1 Robby Gordon (USA) Hummer 2hrs 58mins 57secs
2 Jean-Louis Schlesser (Fra) Schles-Ford-Raid 2:59:14
3 Giniel De Villiers (Rsa) Volkswagen 3:05:49
4 Carols Sainz (Spa) Volkswagen 3:06:14
5 Stephane Peterhansel (Fra) Mitsubishi 3:06:46
6 Nasser saleh Al Attiyah (Qat) BMW 3:07:21
7 Carlos Sousa (Por) Volkswagen 3:09:00
8 Luc Alphand (Fra) Mitsubishi 3:09:42
9 Mark Miller (USA) Volkswagen 3:11:35
10 Krzysztof Holowczyc (Pol) Nissan 3:18:40

Bikes:

1 Jordi Viladoms (Spa) KTM 3hrs 45mins 45secs
2 Marc Coma (Spa) KTM 3:46:42
3 Chris Blais (USA) KTM 3:46:45
4 Isidre Esteve Pujol (Spa) KTM 3:48:53
5 Frans Verhoeven (Hol) KTM 3:49:14
6 Giovanni Sala (Ita) KTM 3:51:39
7 Helder Rodrigues (Por) Yamaha 3:52:54
8 David Casteu (Fra) KTM 3:53:40
9 Pal Anders Ullevalseter(Nor) KTM 3:54:19
10 David Fretigne (Fra) Yamaha 3:54:28

Leading overall positions after stage six:

Cars:

1 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Volkswagen 16hrs 00mins 04secs
2 Giniel De Villiers (Rsa) Volkswagen 16:03:15
3 Carlos Sousa (Por) Volkswagen 16:14:07
4 Luc Alphand (Fra) Mitsubishi 16:23:59
5 Stephane Peterhansel (Fra) Mitsubishi 16:25:07
6 Jean-Louis Schlesser (Fra) Schles-Ford-Raid 16:28:54
7 Nani Roma (Spa) Mitsubishi 16:37:35
8 Mark Miller (USA) Volkswagen 16:54:57
9 Hiroshi Masuoka (Jap) Mitsubishi 17:04:27
10 Nasser saleh Al Attiyah (Qat) BMW 17:23:36

Bikes:

1 Marc Come (Spa) KTM 17hrs 55mins 30secs
2 Isidre Esteve Pujol (Spa) KTM 18:07:37
3 David Casteu (Fra) KTM 18:40:09
4 Chris Blais (USA) KTM 18:43:09
5 Cyril Despres (Fra) KTM 18:52:48
6 Jordi Viladoms (Spa) KTM 19:01:43
7 Frans Verhoeven (Hol) KTM 19:07:15
8 David Fretigne (Fra) Yamaha 19:13:45
9 Helder Rodrigues (Por) Yamaha 19:19:58
10 Francisco Lopez (Chi) Honda 19:22:42