305 - Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford - Volkswagen Race Touareg 2Stage 5 : January 6, 2010 - Copiapo to Antofagasta - Connection 90 km/Special 483 km/Connection 97 km
Volkswagen took the lead on the so far longest and toughest special stage of the Dakar Rally: As many as three Race Touareg vehicles are setting the pace at the front of the field after five days, both in the stage and overall classifications.
Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) are leading the cross-country classic with an advantage of 4m 37s. Runners-up are their team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D), followed with a gap of 9m 39s by Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) who celebrated their first ever stage win at the Dakar Rally. Consequently, the first five days of the closely fought rally through Argentina and Chile have seen five different winners.
On the way from Copiapó to Antofagasta, which led across elevations of almost 3,000 metres and vast scree fields, the participants contested the special stage that – at 483 kilometres – was the second-longest one of the rally. For the stage winners Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford the key to success was a style of driving that was easy on the material as well as consistently fast: The American-South African duo avoided any punctures which in view of the presence of large and sharp stones in washed-out terrain were almost inevitable.
The X-raid-BMW team with Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (F/F) that had been ranking in first place so far lost well over an hour's time in the Atacama desert. Now, the Americans Robby Gordon/Andy Grider in the Hummer are the Volkswagen trio's immediate rivals in the overall standings.
Stage 5 Result : : January 6, 2010 - Copiapo to Antofagasta - Connection 90 km/Special 483 km/Connection 97 km
Pl | No. | Driver | Car | Time | Variation | Penalty |
| 1 | 305 | MILLER (USA) PITCHFORD (ZAF) | VOLKSWAGEN | 05:06:15 | 00:00:00 | |
| 2 | 303 | SAINZ (ESP) CRUZ (ESP) | VOLKSWAGEN | 05:08:25 | 00:02:10 | |
| 3 | 306 | AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) GOTTSCHALK (DEU) | VOLKSWAGEN | 05:10:42 | 00:04:27 | |
| 4 | 302 | GORDON (USA) GRIDER (USA) | HUMMER | 05:11:03 | 00:04:48 | |
| 5 | 312 | NEVES (BRA) MAESTRELLI (BRA) | VOLKSWAGEN | 05:15:36 | 00:09:21 | |
| 6 | 307 | CHICHERIT (FRA) THOERNER (CHE) | BMW | 05:18:39 | 00:12:24 | |
| 7 | 311 | TERRANOVA (ARG) MAIMON (FRA) | MITSUBISHI | 05:22:48 | 00:16:33 | |
| 8 | 314 | SOUSA (PRT) BAUMEL (FRA) | MITSUBISHI | 05:26:23 | 00:20:08 | |
| 9 | 308 | HOLOWCZYC (POL) FORTIN (BEL) | Nissan Overdrive | 05:31:41 | 00:25:26 | |
| 10 | 310 | NOVITSKIY (RUS) SCHULZ (DEU) | BMW | 05:31:53 | 00:25:38 | |
| 11 | 322 | SPINELLI (BRA) PALMEIRO (PRT) | MITSUBISHI | 05:37:26 | 00:31:11 | |
| 12 | 351 | BALDWIN (USA) WALCH (USA) | HUMMER | 05:39:32 | 00:33:17 | |
| 13 | 313 | LAVIEILLE (FRA) FORTHOMME (BEL) | NISSAN | 05:48:30 | 00:42:15 | |
| 14 | 332 | BARBOSA (PRT) RAMALHO (PRT) | MITSUBISHI | 05:49:11 | 00:42:56 | |
| 15 | 318 | MISSLIN (FRA) POLATO (FRA) | MITSUBISHI | 05:55:46 | 00:49:31 | |
| 16 | 325 | HENRARD (BEL) BEGUIN (BEL) | VOLKSWAGEN | 05:59:40 | 00:53:25 | |
| 17 | 300 | DE VILLIERS (ZAF) VON ZITZEWITZ (DEU) | VOLKSWAGEN | 06:01:49 | 00:55:34 | |
| 18 | 323 | ERRANDONEA (AND) GARCIN (FRA) | SMG | 06:11:13 | 01:04:58 | |
| 19 | 336 | LEAL DOS SANTOS (PRT) FIUZA (PRT) | BMW | 06:11:22 | 01:05:07 | |
| 20 | 315 | KAHLE (DEU) SCHÜNEMANN (DEU) | Fast - Speed | 06:11:37 | 01:05:22 | |
| 21 | 317 | VAN DEIJNE (NLD) ROSEGAAR (NLD) | MITSUBISHI | 06:20:01 | 01:13:46 | |
| 22 | 321 | DE AZEVEDO (BRA) CAVASSIN (BRA) | MITSUBISHI | 06:21:55 | 01:15:40 | |
| 23 | 338 | GIBON (FRA) MIURA (JPN) | TOYOTA | 06:27:30 | 01:21:15 | |
| 24 | 320 | GARLAND (AUS) SUZUKI (AUS) | ISUZU | 06:29:48 | 01:23:33 | |
| 25 | 309 | ZAPLETAL (CZE) OUREDNICEK (CZE) | MITSUBISHI | 06:34:57 | 01:28:42 | |
| 26 | 334 | MIRONENKO (RUS) LEBEDEV (RUS) | Nissan Overdrive | 06:34:58 | 01:28:43 | |
| 27 | 353 | SCHOTT (DEU) SCHMIDT (DEU) | MITSUBISHI | 06:41:07 | 01:34:52 | |
| 28 | 341 | MITSUHASHI (JPN) CATTARELLI (FRA) | TOYOTA | 06:43:43 | 01:37:28 | |
| 29 | 337 | VAN LOON (NLD) VERHOEF (NLD) | MITSUBISHI | 06:49:02 | 01:42:47 | |
| 30 | 330 | SIREYJOL (FRA) WISSMANNS (FRA) | BOWLER | 06:57:02 | 01:50:47 |
Stage 5 - Overall Standing
|
Images : 2010 Dakar - Stage 5 Hi-light
[Source : 2010 Dakar - Official, VOLKSWAGEN, X-Raid]
