CALAMA, Chile - Marc Coma's lead on a motorbike slimmed to 2 seconds while Carlos Sainz stretched his advantage in cars by winning his third of four stages in the Dakar Rally on Wednesday.

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With the race crossing the Andes into Chile's Atacama Desert, Spain's Coma finished 16 seconds ahead of French rival Cyril Despres to win the 207-kilometer (129-mile) fourth stage.

Francisco Lopez Contrado of Chile was third in the stage and improved from 11th to third in the overall standings.

Defending champion Sainz won the stage by 50 seconds over Volkswagen teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah. The victory pushed him 4 minutes, 24 seconds ahead of Al-Attiyah in the overall and 5:41 up on Stephane Peterhansel. Peterhansel was third in the stage in his BMW.