One of the great things about the Dakar is the spirit of co-operation, helpfulness and outright generosity. There’s so much of it going on, inevitably not all the stories make it into the TV coverage.

Take stage 5, which took place yesterday. One such act of kindness involved front-running bike competitor Marc Coma of Spain, so did make it into the highlights.

Coma suffered massive tyre damage, rendering the bike useless. To the rescue came Dakar rookie Luca Manca, from Italy, who gave his wheel to Coma. Manca was running 4th overall before the day’s stage, so it was no small gesture, and there was no reason compelling him to make it. Manca in turn was then given a wheel by Dutchman Henk Knuiman – Coma’s team-mate – allowing him to complete the stage.

There’s not been much room in broadcasts for the adventures of ProDakar, Alister McRae’s Dakar team, running the new McRae 4×2 Buggy. There are two of them left in the event: Chris Leyds, who had Alister McRae as co-driver in a McRae Enduro last year; and Tim Coronel, who last year took part in a Bowler Nemesis with his twin brother, WTCC driver Tom Coronel.

As with many teams on the Dakar, there’s a good website charting their progress. Stage 5 was eventful for Coronel. The Afraja Team truck helped them get over a clutch problem during the special stage, only for the 4×2 to suffer again on the liaison. This time it was the Jumbo Rally Team truck – of former Formula 1 driver Jan Lammers – which helped out, towing them back to service.

Not that the Jumbo Rally Team had an easy day. Lammers’s website provides updates on his Dakar, and on stage 5 they were helped on their way by the GNIF service truck of Edwin van Ginkel.

There’s so much on the web about the Dakar, I could probably keep finding interlinked stories for hours. It’s a fantastically positive winter distraction from the tedious, negative politics of Formula 1 and so forth.