ABU DHABI — After another day when the Rub Al-Khali teased and frustrated many of the world’s top drivers and riders, Stéphane Peterhansel and Sam Sunderland have retained their lead roles in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge powered by Nissan.

Winding through the mighty dunes for 297.9km, the Nissan Stage is traditionally the event’s most demanding, and so it was again as Poland’s Jakub Przygonski set the fastest time of the cars in his Mini John Cooper Works Buggy.

This still left him fourth overall, with Peterhansel and wife Andrea in a Mini JC Works Rally, second quickest on the day, finishing the leg with a 4 mins 23 mins overall lead from Dutchman Bernhard Ten Brinke who had a troublesome day in his Toyota Hilux Overdrive.

With the UAE’s Khalid Qassimi in the Abu Dhabi Racing Peugeot 3008 DKR and Czech defending champion Martin Prokop in a Ford Raptor RS Cross Country also well in the mix, the top five were split by just 15 minutes with two stages totalling 500km in length remaining.

The early part of the Nissan stage trapped a succession of cars in soft sand, and the rally continued to play with the spirits of Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al- Rajhi. Stranded in the desert with transmission problems on the opening leg, he bounced back to win the next day’s stage but retired early Tuesday.

Sunderland, who has known glory and a fair mixture of frustration in previous years, ended the day with a 12 mins 48 secs lead, although he will not be taking a second bikes triumph in two years for granted.

He collected his second stage win in three days, taking it by 2 mins 51 secs from Argentine KTM team-mate Kevin Benavides.

But it is the younger of the Benavides brothers, Luciano on a KTM, who now lies second, with the winner of the previous day’s stage, Chilean Honda rider Jose Cornejo, in third.

American Casey Currie in a CAN AM Maverick X3 leads the buggies category by 1 min 10 secs from Brazil’s Reinaldo Varela in another CAN AM. In the battle of the quads, Russian Aleksandr Maksimov on a Yamaha Raptor holds a 56 seconds advantage over Kuwaiti Fahad Al Musallam, also riding a Yamaha. — SG