PARIS, Jan 18 (Reuter) - Kenjiro Shinozuka of Japan in a Mitsubishi and Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel on a Yamaha all but wrapped up their Dakar Rally victories on Saturday.
Shinozuka looks set for his first win in the cars category after keeping his French Mitsubishi team mate Jean-Pierre Fontenay in his sights on the penultimate stage which took the competitors back into Senegal.
Fontenay won the 751-km stage to Saint-Louis from Kiffa in Mauritania ahead of compatriot and team mate Bruno Saby with Shinozuka third.
But Fontenay, coming in less then two minutes ahead of both Saby and Shinozuka, only managed to reduce slightly the Japanese driver's overall lead to three minutes and 15 seconds.
In the motorcycle section, Peterhansel needs to avoid trouble in Sunday's short 218-km final stage to Dakar which includes a short 18-km timed special section to secure his fifth victory.
In the lead from day one, the Frenchman is still more than two and a half hours ahead of second-placed Spaniard Oscar Gallardo on a Cagiva.
