Robby Gordon wins stage of Dakar Rally

ZOUERAT, Mauritania – American Robby Gordon won the sixth stage of the Dakar Rally on Thursday.

The Hummer driver completed the 245-mile stage in 2 hours, 58 minutes, 57 seconds, going from Tan-Tan, Morocco to Zouerat, Mauritania.

Former Dakar winner and Schles-Ford-Raid driver Jean-Louis Schlesser trailed Gordon by 17 seconds. South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers came in third for Volkswagen, 6:52 behind Gordon.

Spanish driver and former world rally champion Carlos Sainz was fourth, 7:17 behind, and kept the overall lead with nine stages left.

Volkswagen continued to hold the top three spots with de Villiers second and Portugal’s Carlos Sousa third.

Meanwhile, the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano criticized the Dakar Rally as “a bloody race of irresponsibility” after a motorcyclist died in a crash.

Elmer Symons died Tuesday, the latest in a string of casualties that have plagued the race. The newspaper, which has criticized the race for years, said in Thursday editions that Symons was its 54th victim.