San Juan - Last year's winner Nasser Al-Attiyah won Thursday's Dakar Rally 11th stage, held in searing heat which made the going extra tough for the motorbike competitors.
Mini driver Al-Attiyah picked up his second stage victory of this year's Dakar, completing the drive from La Rioja to San Juan almost six minutes clear of Sebastien Loeb.
Nine-time world rally champion and Dakar debutant Loeb crossed the line in unorthodox fashion, his Peugeot being towed by team-mate Cyril Despres after it had packed up a handful of kilometres from the finish.
Mikko Hirvonen was third while French Dakar legend Stephane Peterhansel kept the wheels on his bid for a 12th title, finishing fourth behind the wheel of his Peugeot at 8:05.
The rally's all-time most successful competitor maintained his lead at the top of the overall standings, 51:55 ahead of Al-Attiyah with South African Giniel de Villers 1:17.24 off the pace in third.
The bikes stage was stopped because of the heat at the 243km mark with Antoine Meo of France declared the winner.
With only two days racing to go, Australian Toby Price (KTM) holds a 35:23 advantage in the overall standings from Slovakia's Stefan Svitko.
2016 Dakar Rally Stage 11 results
CARS
1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) 04:49:16
2. Sébastien Loeb (FRA) +00:05:52
3. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) +00:07:01
?4. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) +00:08:05
5. Yazeed Alrajhi (SAU) +00:11:57
7. Giniel de Villiers (ZAF) +00:12:58
BIKES
1. Antoine Méo (FRA) 05:19:08
2. Toby Price (AUS) +00:00:18
3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL) +00:02:48
4. Hélder Rodrigues (PRT) +00:12:01
5. Adrien van Beveren (FRA) +00:12:0
TRUCKS
1. Eduard Nikolaev (RUS) 05:31:37
2. Pieter Versluis (NLD) +00:05:02
3. Ton van Genugten (NLD) +00:05:36
4. Ayrat Mardeev (RUS) +00:07:51
5. Dmitry Sotnikov (RUS) +00:09:3
QUADS
1. Alejandro Patronelli (ARG) 06:20:15
2. Brian Baragwanath (ZAF) +00:01:06
3. Marcos Patronelli (ARG) +00:01:26
4. Sergei Kariakin (RUS) +00:17:49
5. Jeremias Gonzalez (ARG) +00:28:56
2016 Dakar Rally overall standings
CARS
1. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) 37:42:20
2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) +00:51:55
3. Giniel de Villiers (ZAF) +01:17:24
4. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) +01:22:47
5. Leeroy Polter (ZAF) +01:46:36
9. Sébastien Loeb (FRA) +02:25:18
BIKE
1. Toby Price (AUS) +00:00:18
2. Stefan Svitko (SVK) +00:35:23
3. Antoine Méo (FRA) +00:43:46
4. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL) +00:45:19
5. Kevin Benavides (ARG) +00:57:0
TRUCKS
1. Gerard de Rooy (NLD) 39:10:29
2. Ayrat Mardeev (RUS) +01:09:21
3. Federico Villagra (ARG) +01:45:45
4. Ton van Genugten (NLD) +02:08:42
5. Pieter Versluis (NLD) +02:46:27
QUADS
1. Marcos Patronelli (ARG) 49:36:00
2. Alejandro Patronelli (ARG) +00:00:08
3. Brian Baragwanath (ZAF) +01:41:15
4. Sergei Kariakin (RUS) +01:51:18
5. Jeremias Gonzalez (ARG) +02:02:13