Dakar Trucks, Stage 5: Nikolaev takes first win for Kamaz, Villagra leads

31-year-old Nikolaev, who had won the event in 2013, spent the first half of the run trailing Martin Kolomy. However, he picked up the pace and opened a gap of 2m32s by the end to record Kamaz's first stage victory in the 2016 rally.

Despite failing to match Nikolaev’s superior pace, Kolomy still confidently secured second as he finished two minutes ahead of Iveco duo Villagra and Ton van Genugten, who recorded identical times.

Ayrat Mardeev, Kamaz's top driver in the general standings, took fifth, followed by Peter Versluis and Hans Stacey, who kicked off the day as the overall leaders but were both surpassed by Villagra, now trailing him by five and 21 seconds respectively.

Villagra's squadmate Gerard de Rooy was eighth, while another Powerstar Iveco driver Ales Loprais became the first major truck casualty of the event as his rally ended prematurely due to mechanical issues.

Standings after Stage 5