A total of 123 cars, 125 motorcycles, 21 quads and 71 trucks were still in the running as the rally took a rest day on Sunday at Copiapo, in the Acatama desert in Chile.

In the car section, 42 minutes separate the top six drivers with veteran Stephan Peterhansel leading in a Mini, 11 minutes 22 seconds ahead of Krzysztof Holowczyc of Poland. The Frenchman, who won six motorcycling and three car titles in the Dakar, is looking for his 10th overall victory.

In the bike section, another Frenchman, Cyril Despres, has managed to stay ahead of the defending champion Marc Coma of Spain. Despres, a winner in 2005 and 2007, has finished the first week seven minutes and 48 seconds in front of his main rival and hopes he will not find other surprises on the way in the final week.

Alejandro Patronelli of Argentina holds top spot in the quads and Dutchman Gerard de Rooy leads the truck category.