GRANADA, Spain, Jan 3 (AFP) - Former world rally champion Colin McRae grabbed the lead of the Dakar Rally and then set his sights on hammering home his advantage when the gruelling marathon hits Africa on Monday.
Scotsman McRae, the 1995 world rally champion, won the third stage on Sunday to snatch the overall lead in his Nissan as the competitors headed for Rabat in Morocco to begin the first African stage.
"The car is working very well and Im very happy and I had a blast driving," said McRae who has a one second lead over America's Robby Gordon who won the opening stage of the event.
"I just wanted to go fast to be able to leave in the first positions for the stage between Rabat and Agadir, because I believe there wont be a lot of overtaking possibilities on the special."
The timed section of 123km in that fourth stage, which is 666km long in total, will also be extremely dusty which could have a significant bearing on the outcome.
The third stage at Granada, held on military ground, at least gave the competitors a chance to acclimatise to the dusty condiitions.
"The earth conditions are getting really difficult on the course," said defending champion Stephan Peterhansel who is fourth overall in his Mitsubishi.
"Its starting to look like sand and you lose a lot of power when accelerating. The serious stuff starts Monday. Itll be a short special but with a technical part in the mountains. We have to avoid mistakes."
South Africa's Giniel De Villiers, in a Nissan, is third overall, just two secs behind his teammate McRae.
"Everything is going well. Africa awaits us and Im eager to be there. But the real start will be in Mauritania. Until then, we wont really attack."
01/03/2005 01:35 GMT - AFP