PARIS, Jan 14 - Duarte Guedes scored a Dakar rally double for both his country and his team on Tuesday by winning the 10th stage.
The Portuguese driver completed the 537-km stage in four hours 45 minutes 41 seconds, 55 seconds faster than Frenchman Bruno Saby in one of the dominant Mitsubishis.
``It's the first time the Dessoude Nissan team have won a special (stage) in the Dakar,'' said delighted Nissan team manager Andre Dessoude.
``It doesn't surprise me it was Duarte Guedes because he's a very good driver and a fighter and I'm sure he put all his energy into this special.''
Saby's team mate and compatriot Jean-Pierre Fontenay, third in the stage from Oclan in Niger to Kidal in Mali, increased his overall lead over second-placed Kenjiro Shinozuka of Japan to six minutes five seconds.
The Japanese Mitsubishi driver, in front in the early stages of the race, had his worst stage so far. He was sixth, seven minutes behind the winner.
Guedes put the victory down to good navigating by his French co-driver Francis Dubois.
``The car was perfect for this kind of terrain...But it was the navigation which made the difference. Francis chose the tracks well, always the fastest,'' he said.
``I'm really happy because this proves that (race organiser) Hubert Auriol was right when he said the course was open to everyone.''
Frenchman Thierry Magnaldi, winner of Monday's ninth stage in the motorcycle section on a KTM, abandoned the race about 100 kms from the end of Tuesday's stage with a broken engine.
Compatriot Stephane Peterhansel on a Yamaha remained about one and a half hours ahead of Jordi Arcarons' KTM overall after finishing second, 17 seconds behind his main Spanish rival in the stage.
