American Miller captures 1st Dakar stage in leading VW sweep; Gordon 4th in Hummer

American Miller captures 1st Dakar Rally stage

SANTIAGO, Chile — American Mark Miller has captured his first stage win in the Dakar Rally, winning the fifth leg to lead a Volkswagen sweep that gave Carlos Sainz the overall lead.

Miller won Wednesday’s grueling 300-mile run across the Atacama Desert from Copiapo north to Antofagasta, finishing 5 hours, 6 minutes, 15 seconds. Sainz was 2:10 behind and Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah was third, 4:27 back.

NASCAR driver Robby Gordon finished fourth in a Hummer, 4:48 off Miller’s pace.

Sainz leads Al-Attiyah by 4:37 overall, and Miller is 9:39 off the pace in third.

In motorbikes, Chilean Contardo Lopez won the stage and Cyril Despres was 1:30 behind, allowing the Frenchman to extend his overall lead to 37:37 on Lopez.