The Spaniard's second triumph marked Peugeot's return to victories in the 2016 Dakar.
Today's special was already one of the shortest on the Dakar, and it became shorter when the organization was forced to suspend the stage at the 4th waypoint, due to the high heat that was felt in Belén, Argentina.Carlos Sainz made use of his experience and finished with a time of 2h35m31s, just 10 seconds behind Erik Van Loon (Mini) and 37 seconds behind Mikko Hirvonen (Mini). In the overall standings, the Spaniard reinforced his lead, with Peterhansel and Al Attiyah occupying the other two podium places.
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As for Sébastien Loeb, the Frenchman was repeatedly stuck in the sand and ended up finishing the stage in 18th place, 1h13m from Carlos Saiz, practically being left out of the race to victory in the Dakar.
On motorcycles, Toby Price (KTM) was back at a devilish pace and clearly won the stage with more than 7 minutes ahead of Kevin Benavides (Honda). Paulo Gonçalves had an unhappy day again and was about to retire, but thanks to the shortened stage the Portuguese will be able to continue in the competition, although late in the fight for victory.