(CNN) -- American driver Robby Gordon won the fourth stage of the Dakar Rally by just one second from Stephane Peterhansel, who extended his overall lead to more than seven minutes in South America on Tuesday.
NASCAR star Gordon claimed his first victory of this year's race, and his third overall, as he snatched the quickest time on the shortened 163 kilometer stage from Fiambala in Argentina to Copiapo in Chile. It was cut by 40km as some competitors arrived late following Monday's leg.
He clocked one hour, 40 minutes and 21 seconds in his Hummer to head off BMW's Peterhansel, who has won three car titles and six on bikes.
The Frenchman now leads Carlos Sainz by seven minutes and 36 seconds, with the former world rally champion finishing fourth behind Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Defending champion Giniel De Villiers gave Volkswagen with three drivers in the top five, but is still way back in 20th due to his problems on Monday.
Gordon was left eight overall, more than an hour off the pace, while his compatriot Mark Miller is fourth in another Volkswagen after placing sixth on Tuesday.
"Today's special stage was perfect for us with a lot of camel grass. It's on this type of terrain that the Hummer is doing great," Gordon told the race's official Web site.
"I am glad we managed to recover from yesterday. I got stuck twice yesterday and the engine overheated. We lost one hour. It's sad but the race is still long. We've only had four days of raid so far. A stage victory means nothing to us. It's the final victory we are in for."
In the bikes, defending champion Marc Coma bounced back from losing moer than 40 minutes over the last two days to win the stage.
The Spaniard was left in sixth overall, 38 minutes and 50 seconds behind Frenchman Cyril Depres, who was third on the stage also riding a 690cc KTM machine.
His compatriot David Casteu, riding a smaller 450cc Sherco machine, was runner-up to retain second overall -- almost nine minutes behind with 10 stages left.
