Cyril Despres set the pace in the second stage of the 2018 Dakar Rally, as Peugeot locked out the top three positions. Despres prevailed in an all-Peugeot scrap for stage honours, ultimately besting teammates Stephane Peterhansel and Sebastien Loeb by 48 seconds and three minutes respectively.
Cyril Despres. Image Motorsport.com
Following on from Saturday’s 31km opener, the second timed stage – a 267km loop that started and concluded near the small Peruvian town of Pisco – was the first proper marathon run of the event and largely comprised off-road sections.
None of Peugeot’s drivers cracked the top 10 in the first stage, but the manufacturer was ahead at every waypoint this time by.
The fourth Peugeot 3008DKR Maxi, that of Carlos Sainz, led the way early on, but the car soon developed a slow puncture and the Spaniard spent the rest of the day playing catch-up.
He recovered enough to briefly break back into the top four, but had another puncture and got lost towards the end of the stage. He finally wound up sixth, 13 minutes off the pace.
Toyota driver Giniel de Villiers was best of the rest behind the three leading Peugeots, the South African trailing Despres by 7m26s.
His teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah, opening the road after he had topped Saturday’s stage, lost almost double that. He finished the run in eighth place, held back by his co-driver Matthieu Baumel feeling sick.
Disaster for Mini
The stage was a particularly bruising one for the X-raid Mini outfit, with two of its three all-new buggies sustaining damage and dropping out of contention.
Rookie Bryce Menzies, who was fourth on the opening stage, rolled just 2km into the timed section and was unable to carry on, his Red Bull-liveried two-wheel-drive challenger reduced to a torn-up wreck.
The American was unhurt but will not continue in the rally, his co-driver Peter Mortensen understood to have suffered a broken ankle.
Fellow buggy driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi got further into the stage before colliding with the X-raid Mini John Cooper Works Rally car of Boris Garafulic, with both crews stranded as a result of the incident.
Orlando Terranova, driving a regular Mini four-wheel-drive car, finished as the top X-raid representative, placing between de Villiers and Sainz in fifth, while the remaining Mini buggy – that of ex-WRC ace Mikko Hirvonen – was seventh.
The stage win has vaulted Despres to the top of the overall classification, 27 seconds ahead of nearest rival Peterhansel.
Loeb is sat fourth, between de Villiers and Al-Attiyah, after his brake trouble-induced time losses on Saturday.
Story by: Motorsport.com. Image: Motorsport.com
Standings after Stage 2 (top 10):
| Pos. | Driver / Co-driver | Car | Time/Gap |
| 1 |  Cyril Despres
|
Peugeot | 3h21m18s |
| 2 | Stephane Peterhansel
|
Peugeot | +27s |
| 3 |  Giniel de Villiers
|
Toyota | +5m44s |
| 4 | Sebastien Loeb
|
Peugeot | +6m9s |
| 5 |  Nasser Al-Attiyah
|
Toyota | +12m15s |
| 6 |  Orlando Terranova
|
Mini | +12m50s |
| 7 |  Mikko Hirvonen
|
Mini | +12m50s |
| 8 |  Carlos Sainz
|
Peugeot | +13m12s |
| 9 |  Martin Prokop
|
Ford | +14m32s |
| 10 |  Bernhard ten Brinke
|
Toyota | +17m43s
|
Dirk von Zitzewitz
Daniel Elena