INTERNATIONAL: Stephane Peterhansel's hopes of defending his Dakar Rally title effectively disappeared on Sunday after the Frenchman's electric Audi suffered a smashed rear axle on the first stage in the Saudi desert.

His broken Audi made the driver lost more than five hours, giving Al-Attiyah the chance to lead the Dakar Rally

While Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah continued his form from Saturday's prologue to stretch his lead to 12 minutes 44 seconds, 14-times Dakar winner Peterhansel had to wait for assistance.

The French veteran had been in second place at the first waypoint but the challenge fell apart some 153km into the 333-km loop around Ha'il.

Toyota driver Al Attiyah's closest rival is now Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, a nine-times world rally champion, for the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team.

Martin Prokop of the Czech Republic is third for the Benzina Orlen Team.

Peterhansel's team mate Carlos Sainz, a three-times Dakar winner who was second after Saturday's prologue, lost his way in the desert and ended the day more than two hours adrift of Al Attiyah.

Audi, who also have Sweden's Mattias Ekstroem an hour and a half off the pace, were seeking to become the first manufacturer to win the Dakar with an electrified powertrain but the challenge looks over for this year.

Their Audi RS Q e-tron also features a petrol engine to charge the car's batteries during the longer stages of the two-week endurance event.

In the motorcycle category, Australian Daniel Sanders remained the overall leader for the GasGas team after winning the stage more than three minutes clear of Chilean rival Pablo Quintanilla. Austria's Matthias Walkner is third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

Monday's second stage is a 338-km timed run featuring a chain of dunes on the way to Al-Artawiya.