Overview
- Mitch Guthrie was confirmed Stage 5 winner after Nani Roma received a 1m10s overspeeding penalty, completing a Ford 1-2-3 with Martin Prokop third.
- Henk Lategan lost nearly 13 minutes opening the road on a day with different bike and car routes and provisionally finished 16th on the stage, yet he remains overall leader by 3m17s over Nasser Al‑Attiyah.
- Post‑stage penalties reshaped the daily order, including a two‑minute hit for Al‑Attiyah that dropped him to 15th on the stage, though he stays second in the general classification.
- Ford now holds places three through six overall with Mattias Ekström, Roma, Carlos Sainz Sr and Guthrie, while Dacia’s Lucas Moraes and Sébastien Loeb sit seventh and eighth.
- The opening Marathon leg on Stage 4 set the tone with rock‑strewn tracks, widespread punctures and navigation errors, including Toyota entries taking multiple flats and a waypoint penalty.