Colin McRae's good run in the Dakar Rally was hindered yesterday by a time penalty - for driving too fast.

The Scotsman ended the fifth stage of the event in sixth to stay sixth overall but his good mood was soured by a penalty for speeding through the Moroccan town of Er Rachidia which cost him seven minutes 30 seconds.

On his first-ever Dakar Rally, McRae had his first minor trouble on the mammoth 337-kilometre fifth stage when he was forced to stop and change a tyre after a puncture.

But that still left him rounding out the top six until race organisers handed him a penalty which dropped him to down to eighth place.