The Quad category has seen Yamaha YFM700R machinery dominant with seven of the first ten classified riders reaching the end of Stage 5. The listing his headed by Alejandro Patronelli. The Argentine is attempting his second Dakar after winning two stages and finishing second to his brother in 2010. Last year’s victor, Marcos, lost all hope of defending his title after receiving a six hour penalty after Stage 1 and had to retire in stage 4 after injuring his knee but Alejandro has been flying the flag admirably for the family name and hasn’t dropped out of the top two in the general standings for four of the five stages; arriving first in two. “I’m exhausted and it has been a hard race so far but this is the Dakar and I will keep on pushing with this rhythm,” he said. Countrymen Tomas Maffei and Sebastian Halpern are running second and third respectively. One of the few female entrants, Franco-Italian Camelia Liparoti (using a YFM700R), is presently fifteenth from twenty Quad riders still in the rally. A special mention must go to former six-times Dakar winner with Yamaha Stephane Peterhansel who is second in the car division and has not dropped out of the top three for the entire contest. 450km of sand and further off-road tracks lie in wait for the special stage 6 until the break in the town of Arica, near the Peruvian border. The pause in the schedule will permit valuable rest and recuperation time as well as a chance for mechanical repair.