Already yesterday it looked good for Mattias Ekström who was fine until the rear shock began to rumble.
Then he finished in 20th place, but in distance six that was run today, it held almost all the way to victory.
- It was difficult when everyone is in the sand fog.
We did a really good job until there was about a kilometer left when I lost a little.
We lost maybe 1 minute and 20 seconds, so it was very close to our first stage victory.
But I still think we should be happy, says map reader Emil Bergkvist.
The distance was won by the Argentine veteran Orlando Terranova who was one minute and six seconds faster than the Swedish crew.
Ekström tells about an incident right at the beginning of the route:
- Already in the first corner, I wanted to go to a small show, because it was full of spectators.
It was a simple straight and then 90 degrees to the left.
But when I was about to brake, the car shut down and we had to restart the whole car.
A car passed by and my heart rate skyrocketed, he says.
Second place means that Ekström has climbed three places in the summary and right now he is 14th.
Today's distance was the 43-year-old Swede's best in this year's Dakar Rally.
Leading overall is Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Ekström is the third driver in Audi's major investment behind the legends Stephane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz.
In the lightweight class, Sebastian Eriksson finished fourth on today's stretch.
He remains second overall.