Despres on verge of 5th Dakar title

France's Cyril Despres virtually wrapped up a fifth Dakar Rally motorcycling title on Friday when he finished second on the penultimate stage to open an overall lead of over eight minutes. The 38-year-old, the champion in 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2012, was 5min 25sec behind Chile's Francisco Lopez. But with KTM teammate, and overnight title rival, Ruben Faria slipping into third in the standings, Despres will go into Saturday's final dash into Santiago with an 8min 15sec overall lead over Lopez. For Honda rider Lopez, it was a fourth stage win on the 2013 race and 10th of his career. From : AFP