AlUla, Saudi Arabia After trouble with his electronic tablet during Tuesdays Stage Three, bike racer Daniel Sanders was given back 4 minutes, 54 seconds by Dakar Rally race organizers before setting off on Stage Four.

He continued his brilliant event in the first part of this years Marathon Stage as the Australian navigated the 415-kilometer volcanic rock garden spreading from Al Henakiyah to AlUla safely on Wednesday as others in the convoy found it tough going on their tires.

The 30-year-old, who holds a 13-minute 26-second lead over his nearest rival Spaniard Tosha Schareina, said, I know this area and it can be tricky, so youve just got to focus. It looks like Im opening the stage tomorrow, so the pressure is on to not lose too much time.

With younger brother Luciano in eighth overall, two-time bike winner Kevin Benavides has struggled to reach those heights again at the 47th edition as under Marathon Stage rules the riders were given just 90 minutes to work on their bikes after completing todays route.

The first part of this Marathon Stage was incredibly long, more than five hours of racing, Benavides said. There were lines everywhere, so I was really focused on the navigation and doing my own work.

The Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team rookies swapped positions in the Challenger class as American Corbin Leaverton leapfrogged Portuguese team-mate Gonçalo Guerreiro into second spot overall.

There were so many stones, Guerreiro said. Ive never seen something like this. We managed as best we could and still got one flat tyre. We have more than 400 kilometers and our car is in perfect condition.

It was a frustrating day in the Ultimate class as Frenchman Sébastien Loeb did not even start due to a damaged roll cage which means he goes another year without an elusive Dakar title while car debutant Australian Toby Price was undone after a string of strong results when he had to wait more than two hours for his service truck to arrive.

Swede Mattias Ekström got through unscathed to lie 21 minutes, 40 seconds off Ultimate leader Henk Lategan with Brazilian Lucas Moraes up to fifth overall, and American Mitch Guthrie Jr. up to sixth as five-time winner Nasser Al-Attiyah dropped down to seventh 35 minutes, 53 seconds back from Lategan overall.

We stopped twice today, Al-Attiyah said. Once for a puncture and the second time for a broken rear arm. We waited for Cristina (Dacia teammate Gutiérrez) and then we fixed it. The car is OK for tomorrow.

In the SSV class, Chilean Francisco Chaleco López finished second on the day for fourth overall.

All the rocks and also the navigation made this a complicated stage, López said. Aside from the tough terrain, the landscape in AlUla is always very beautiful.

Thursdays Stage Five to Hail is a classic mix of sandy and rocky tracks on a timed special stage of 428km as the rally heads towards its rest day.