PARIS, Jan 9 - Jean-Louis Schlesser's Buggy, the only realistic rival to the dominant Mitsubishis in the Dakar rally, crashed early in the sixth stage on Thursday and had to abandon the race.
Schlesser, who was fourth overall just over 15 minutes behind the leader at the start of the 404-km stage from Gao to Menaka in Niger, damaged his Buggy when he rolled it early in the morning.
His co-driver Philippe Monet suffered a fractured wrist.
Japan's Kenjiro Shinozuka, who lay second after the fifth stage, won Thursday's stage in three and a quarter hours and snatched the overall lead from Mitsubishi team mate Bruno Saby of France.
Saby, third in the stage placings, is now also third overall behind another French Mitsubishi driver Jean-Pierre Fontenay, who like Shinozuka has won two stages and is two and a half minutes behind the leader.
Mitsubishi drivers occupy the top four places although fourth-placed Japanese Hiroshi Masuoka is nearly an hour and a half behind his compatriot.
Nissan's Salvador Servia of Spain and Maurizio Traglio of Italy occupy the next places with Germany's Jutta Kleinschmidt, in another Schlesser Buggy, seventh overall after taking fourth place in the stage.
In the motorcycle section, four times winner Stephane Peterhansel of France stayed firmly in front on a Yamaha with his fifth stage win to open a lead of one hour and 15 minutes over Spain's Jordi Arcarons on a KTM.
The competitors later moved on to Tahoua, where Friday's 575-km seventh stage to Arlit starts.
