Motor Sport Dakar Rally: The former world champion Carlos Sainz reclaimed the lead of the Dakar Rally as Mitsubishi's bid for a sixth consecutive win hit the skids.

Volkswagen driver Sainz, on his first Dakar effort, lost the lead with a disappointing debut on African sand on Monday but hit back in style to return to the top of the leaderboard.

He won the 240-mile fourth stage across Morocco from Er Rachidia to Ouarzazate by two minutes from the Ford-powered buggy of Thierry Magnaldi.

That put Sainz back in the overall lead as Volkswagen took a stranglehold on the top three positions and one of their main challengers pulled out.

Two-time winner Hiroshi Masuoka rolled his Mitsubishi twice - and even though he was able to reach the end of the stage, his team were forced to withdraw the Japanese driver because of irreparable damage.

"We saw this obstacle in the track far too late and we went over twice," said Masuoka.

"We passed a crossroads with some spectators; then it was too late to slow for this obstacle, and we crashed."

Bruno Saby is Sainz's nearest challenger, almost five minutes adrift - while Jutta Kleinschmidt, the only female winner of the Dakar Rally, is close behind in third.

Yesterday's stage was an agonising one for Mitsubishi, who saw their challenge blunted not only by Mauoka's withdrawal but by bad days for their other drivers as well.

They started the day holding the top two positions but had little to show for their efforts by the time their entourage reached Ouarzazate.

Nani Roma, bidding to replicate the feat of team-mate Stephane Peterhansel by winning on two wheels and four, lost the lead after conceding 11 minutes to Sainz.

The 2004 bike champion blamed a wrong turn for starting his troubles.

He said: "That was not a good day for me. After the dunes I was running well, but then we made a navigational error and took a track to the right."

In the bike section, Marc Coma took the lead after finishing second on yesterday's stage.