Torrential rain leaves several cars stranded on stage eight of Dakar Rally

Nasser Al-Attiyah: Allowed to stay in after getting stuck on stage eight

Torrential rain left several competitors stranded on the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally, with only a handful of cars making it to the finish.

The planned trip from Salta to San Miguel de Tucuman in Argentina had already been shortened due to rain when violent storms struck again later in the day.

Rivers overflowed and tracks were blocked with Nasser al-Attiyah, who won the event in 2011, the most notable name to fail to make it to the finish.

But the Qatari was allowed to stay in after officials ruled that everyone who did not complete the course would be awarded the same time as defending champion Stephane Peterhansel.

Peterhansel, who led the event coming into the stage, was the last car to complete the course before the stage was halted. He retains an overall lead of 3 minutes 14 seconds ahead of Al-Attiyah.

Guerlain Chicherit reached the finish in the fastest time with Frenchman Peterhansel over 12 minutes behind on the day.

In the motorcycling category, David Casteu took top spot overall after previous leader Olivier Pain endured a miserable eighth stage.

Joan Barreda Bort claimed the 183km timed run in 2 hours 7 minutes 26 seconds, with Pain 37 minutes back.