Gordon claims latest Dakar stage

Robby Gordon claimed victory on a shortened fourth stage of the Dakar Rally as Stephane Peterhansel extended his overall lead.

Tuesday's stage from Flambala to Copiapo was delayed by 90 minutes due to some competitors being late to arrive at camp following yesterday's third stage, with the decision then being taken to cut the length of today's test by 40 kilometres.

American Gordon eventually claimed the stage by one second from Peterhansel, but the French BMW driver appears handily placed as he now holds a lead of seven minutes and 36 seconds over the Volkswagen of Carlos Sainz.

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah was third on today's run with 2009 winner Giniel de Villiers, who is over three hours off the pace after suffering problems yesterday, in fourth.

France's Cyril Despres holds the advantage in the bike class but it was defending champion Marc Coma who took the stage victory as the Spaniard looks to bounce back from losing over 40 minutes over the last two days.

Vladimir Chagin claimed victory on his 39th birthday in the truck class to extend his handsome overall lead to over 26 minutes.

Argentina's Marcos Patronelli continues to lead the quad entries as he holds an advantage of over eight minutes over brother Alejandro.