Peterhansel says stage win a 'step' to Dakar victory

FIAMBALA, Argentina: French veteran Stephane Peterhansel won stage three of the Dakar Rally on Monday and claimed it was a step towards overall victory in the testing event.

Peterhansel, having threatened to pull down the curtain on his career after quitting following stage seven last year with a broken engine and then seeing his then-team Mitsubishi leave the sport for financial reasons, steered his BMW (pictured) to what was his 52nd special stage victory in the Dakar and his 19th on four wheels.

"We've had a good day. We started sixth and finished first," said the six-time winner of the motorcyles event and a three-time auto section winner.