Coma finished the 207km special stage on the 761km run from Jujuy in the north of Argentina to the Chilean town of Calama in 2hr 04 min, a 16-second lead over defending champion, and overnight leader, Cyril Despres of France.

"It was a very important day for me, even if it was only a 207km stage. It was difficult to open the way. I’m happy and I felt great," said Coma.

"I hope it stays like that right until the end. The general standings don’t matter for the moment. The most important thing will be the last day. It’s essential to have a good pace and avoid making mistakes. Now we’ll have to deal with two very difficult stages." On Tuesday, Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah, driving a Volkswagen, won the third stage of the auto section, a 500km special stage between Tucuman and Jujuy as he trimmed the overall lead of Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz.

Al-Attiyah timed 3hr 42min 20sec as he clawed back 25sec on Sainz and pushed French BMW driver Stephane Peterhansel into third place after seeing off the latter by 59sec to go clear in second spot by 45sec.

Sainz, world rally champion in 1990 and 1992, still leads overall by 3min 34sec.

In the motorbikes section, Spaniard Marc Coma, riding a KTM, won a 521km special from Tucuman to Jujuy in northern Argentina.

Coma's success saw him close in on the head of the standings as he crossed the line in 4hr 18min 55sec, 2min 2sec clear of current leader and French KTM rider Cyril Despres, the triple champion whose overall lead is now just 14sec.

Despite his win on the day, Al-Attiyah complained that his engine lacked power and he felt he should have made far greater indroads into Sainz's lead.