South African Giniel de Villiers won the fifth stage of the Dakar Rally on Wednesday but Qatari driver Nasser Al Attiyah still dominated the overall lead.

Al Attiyah, winner of two stages already in this edition, took over the lead from Spain's rally world champion Carlos Sainz, who finished over 15 minutes behind de Villiers and 10 minutes after the Qatari in the stage.

De Villiers, who is now in second as Sainz dropped to third, led home Germany's Dieter Depping by 2 minutes 18 seconds in the stage, while American Robby Gordon was third.

(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2009)