Holowczyc wins stage & closes gap

Poland's Krzyzstof Holowczyc (Mini) won stage five of the Dakar Rally in Argentina to move into second place overall.

Holowczyc closed the gap on team-mate Stephane Peterhansel to four minutes and 18 seconds after completing the special stage from Chilecito to Fiambala in 2hrs 10mins 51secs.

Peterhansel was third, almost four minutes back, with Hummer driver Robby Gordon 61s behind Holowczyc in second on a stage shortened after overnight rain made parts of the course impassable.

Former winner Giniel de Villiers, who was second overnight, lost 20 minutes on the stage to drop from second to fifth.

In the bikes category, Cyril Despres increased his lead over Marc Coma to almost 10 minutes after winning stage five.

Despres finished 1:41 ahead of fellow KTM rider Coma to extend his advantage to 9:51.

Friday's stage sees the drivers tackle a 394km run from Fiambala to Copiapo containing a special stage of 247km.