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Johannesburg - South African Giniel de Villiers fought back in the seventh stage of the Dakar Rally in Copiapo, Chile, on Saturday, climbing four places to fifth.
De Villiers, who won the race in 2009, and co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz of Germany had lost time after getting stuck in sand dunes on the fifth stage, and after stage six was cancelled due to snow, they bounced back to finish sixth in stage seven.
De Villiers was 34 minutes, seven seconds behind race leader Stephane Peterhansel of France midway through the gruelling two-week event.
Further down the field the South African pairings of Duncan Vos and Robert Howie, and Mark Corbett and Francois Jordaan, were lying 11th and 20th respectively.
"We had a good run today, but there were some niggles that made life difficult," Corbett said.
He and Jordaan picked up two punctures and their cooling fans failed, which caused the car to overheat in the dunes.
The duo stopped and connected the fans to the headlights to get them working again.
"We had lost over an hour by the time we reached the finish," Corbett said.
Darryl Curtis, 32nd in the stage, was the leading South African in the bike category in 33rd position overall.
Further back, Greg Raaf, the only other SA rider left in the race, was lying 106th.
The eighth stage on Monday, a 477km leg, starts in Copiapo and ends in Antofagasta.
2012 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage 7:
Cars - Stage 7 Results
1.Nasser al-Attiyah/Lucas Cruz (QAT/ESP/Hummer) 3hr 32min 57sec
2. Robby Gordon/Johnny Campbell (USA/Hummer) at 7:30
3. Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA/Mini) 7:54
4. Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (POL/BEL/Mini) 14:57
5. Nani Roma/Michel Périn (ESP/FRA/Mini) 15:19
6. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk Von Zitzewitz (RSA/GER/Toyota) 20:59
7. Ricardo Leal Dos Santos/Paulo Fiuza (POR/Mini) 28:25
8. Leonid Novitzkiy/Andreas Schulz (RUS/GER/Mini) 31:28
9. Carlos Sousa/Jean-Pierre Garcin (POR/FRA/Great Wall) 39:48
16. Duncan Vos/Robert Howie (RSA/Toyota) 55:04
24. Mark Corbett/Francois Jordaan (RSA/CR4) 1:57:47
Cars - Overall After Stage 7
1. Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA/Mini) 15hr 32min 53sec
2. Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (POL/BEL/Mini) at 11:22
3. Robby Gordon/Johnny Campbell (USA/Hummer) 13:09
4. Nani Roma/Michel Périn (ESP/FRA/Mini) 18:05
5. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk Von Zitzewitz (RSA/GER/Toyota) 34:07
6. Nasser al-Attiyah/Lucas Cruz (QAT/ESP/Hummer) 42:54
7. Leonid Novitzkiy/Andreas Schulz (RUS/GER/Mini) 54:26
8. Carlos Sousa/Jean-Pierre Garcin (POR/FRA/Great Wall) 1:12:50
9. Lucio Alvarez/Ronnie Graue (ARG/Toyota) 1:41:38
10. Erik Van Loon/Harmen Scholtalbers (NED/Mitsubishi) 1:48:39
11. Duncan Vos/Robert Howie (RSA/Toyota) 2:07:00
20. Mark Corbett/Francois Jordaan (RSA/CR4) 5:22:26
Bikes - Stage 7 results
1. Marc Coma (ESP/KTM) 3hr 51min 35sec
2. Cyril Després (FRA/KTM) at 2:03
3. Paulo Goncalves (POR/Husqvarna) 2:49
4. Helder Rodrigues (POR/Yamaha) 3:46
5. Gerard Farres Guell (ESP/KTM) 6:50
6. Pal Ullevalseter (NOR/KTM) 8:07
7. David Casteu (FRA/Yamaha) 8:43
8. Ruben Faria (POR/KTM) 8:48
9. Frans Verhoeven (NED/Sherco) 9:24
10. Jordi Viladoms (ESP/KTM) 11:26
32. Darryl Curtis (RSA) KTM 42:13
106. Greg Raaf (RSA) KTM 3:15:09
Bikes - Overall standings after Stage 7
1. Cyril Després (FRA/KTM) 18hr 12min 38sec
2. Marc Coma (ESP/KTM) at 7:48
3. Helder Rodrigues (POR/Yamaha) 49:39
4. Paulo Goncalves (POR/Husqvarna) 55:33
5. David Casteu (FRA/Yamaha) 1:05:58
6. Jordi Viladoms (ESP/KTM) 1:07:40
7. Gerard Farres Guell (ESP/KTM) 1:08:00
8. Stefan Svitko (SVK/KTM) 1:17:19
9. Francisco Lopez (CHI/Aprilia) 1:17:20
10. Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP/KTM) 1: 23:48
33. Darryl Curtis (RSA) KTM 4:10:39
95. Greg Raaf (RSA) KTM 13:49:47
