Spain's Nani Roma won his first stage of the Dakar Rally on Tuesday. The win has little significance though, after Roma's chance of an overall win went up in smoke on the first day of the race because of electrical failure.

On the 538 kilometer (334.3 miles) course, which went through parts of the Atacama desert in northern Chile, the Spaniard was six-and-a-half minutes faster than current race leader Al-Attiyah.

Mini thought they had sealed a 1-2-3 in the stage but their hopes were dashed late in the day as Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit, who started the stage in 70th spot, recorded a superb time to snatch third in his Zebra Buggy.

In the overall standings, Al-Attiyah now has a near 24-minute cushion over Toyota's South African driver de Villiers, who was disappointed on Tuesday after losing his way, and eventually taking fourth in the stage.

De Villiers blamed "a terrible, terrible navigation mistake" for his bad time through the Chilean countryside.

"That's cost us the race," de Villiers said. "You know, sometimes it goes like this in the Dakar and there's nothing you can do about it," de Villiers said.

"It's not impossible for Nasser to make a mistake, but with the lead he has now he can take it really easy."

In the bikes section, Portugal's Helder Rodrigues claimed his second stage win of 2015 as Marc Coma had his overall lead cut by three minutes. The race is set to finish on Saturday in Buenos Aires.

al/asz (AFP, dpa)