World Rally Championship

Carlos Sainz exorcised the demons of twelve months ago as he held off a determined Nasser Al-Attiyah on today’s final stage to add a Dakar victory to his two WRC titles.

The Spaniard started the final 206km with an overall lead of 2:48 over his VW teammate, which immediately started to be whittled away as Al-Attiyah (and his co-driver Timo Gottschalk) started at an astonishing pace, racing to the first timing point at 66km in only 25 minutes.

However, Sainz, with Lucas Cruz in the other seat, was right behind, making the most of the favorable conditions, cutting down on the dust hanging in the air. He came to the same point only four seconds slower than the Qatari.

On the fast, flat run to Buenos Aires, it was always likely to take an error or mechanical problem to take the win away from Sainz, and unlike last year, it was a mistake he never looked like making.

Instead, Al-Attiyah was the only one to show signs of the pressure affecting him, missing a corner on the route and losing crucial seconds reversing back onto the road. But despite that minor slip up, he kept the stage lead with Sainz in second place, eighteen seconds behind.

Then 24, then 34. It was agonizing to see the gap extend, but it was only pulled out to 36 seconds by the end of the stage, with Sainz taking the overall win by the relatively tiny margin of 2:10.

BMW pair Guerlain Chicherit and Stephane Peterhansel finished the stage third and fourth fastest, previewing what could be a tremendous rivalry between the German marques in years to come. Mark Miller was fifth on stage, finishing third overall to once more top American in the standings (Robby Gordon finished seventh today, and eighth overall) and complete a VW podium sweep.

In the bike class, the lightning fast stage allowed Cyril Despres home with his hour lead intact, while his Red Bull KTM teammate Ruben Faria dominated the stage, winning by nearly four minutes on a day when the fastest riders completed the stage at an average speed to 150km/h.

Faria beat Norwegian Pal Anders Ullevalseter, who was the first bike to start the final stage. His second place was more than enough to hold onto second overall over Chilean Francisco Lopez Contardo, or Chaleco, who finished the stage 10th fastest, over two minutes behind the KTM man.

The other major battle in the top five remained unchanged as French amateur Alain Duclos was unable to overturn his three minute, three second deficit to David Fretigne. Duclos clearly had designs on fifth place. Starting as the fifth bike on the stage, he kept pace with the more experienced riders ahead of him, never more than a minute behind Ullevalseter’s time.

But Fretigne stayed close behind Duclos on the time sheets, no more than a matter of seconds separating them for much of the stage, before the pair finished fourth and fifth on the stage, their times were only 21 seconds apart.

Jonah Street, riding for the Rally Panam team, was the best American in the bike category, finishing seventh overall, with a time of two hours and 49 minutes, behind Despres. Meanwhile, last year’s winner Marc Coma, who finished eighth on the stage, finished 15th overall with a time of six hours and 32 minutes adrift of Despres.

The trucks saw a first of this year in the final stage.

Perhaps taking the finale easily, the leading duo of Vladimir Chagin and Firdaus Kabirov slipped in to finish the stage fourth and fifth, meaning this was the first stage either of them had won.

Instead, the final victory fell to their teammate Ilgizar Mardeev, while the Ginaf of Wulfert Van Ginkel and the Liaz of Martin Macik relegated the usual suspects to the minor roles.

The stage however, made no difference to the overall standings, as Chagin won his sixth Dakar crown by over an hour from Kabirov. The pair of them, illustrating Kamaz’s dominance, were nine and a half hours ahead of Marcel Van Vliet.  

The final quad stage saw the coronation of Marcos Patronelli, who won the category by well over two hours from his younger brother, Alejandro. While Pole Rafal Sonik won the stage from Christophe Declerck, the crowds of fans in Buenos Aires welcomed home the victorious Argentinean brothers, two weeks after Marcos was the first competitor to make the run through the city’s streets in the ceremonial start.

Stage 14 Results:

Bikes :

1. Ruben Faria (KTM) 1h26:48

2. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +0h03:45

3. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +0h03:57

4. Alain Duclos (KTM) +0h04:34

5. David Fretigne (Yamaha) +0h04:55

Cars :

1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) 1h19:42

2. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h00:36

3. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +0h00:43

4. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +0h01:08

5. Mark Miller (VW) +0h01:39

Quads :

1. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) 1h45:27

2. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) +0h04:03

3. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +0h07:46

4. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +0h17:45

5. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h17:51

Trucks :

1. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) 1h41:36

2. Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +0h02:04

3. Martin Macik (Liaz) +0h02:20

4. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) +0h02:42

5. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h03:57

Final Overall Standings:

Bikes :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 51h10:37

2. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +1h02:52

3. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +1h09:48

4. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +1h19:33

5. David Fretigne (Yamaha) +1h55:56

Cars :

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 47h10:00

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h02:10

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h32:51

4. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +2h17:21

5. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +4h02:49

Quads :

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 64h17:44

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +2h22:59

3. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +5h07:31

4. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) +5h46:56

5. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +5h50:24

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 55h04:47

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +1h13:08

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +10h43:20

4. Martin Macik (Liaz) +12h21:21

5. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +14h59:29

Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah pulled to within three minutes of overall leader Carlos Sainz by finishing second on today’s thirteenth and penultimate stage of the Dakar Rally.

Sainz was the first car to start the 368km stage between San Rafael and Santa Rosa, but was second fastest behind his rival at the first of the day’s control points after 51km. From there on the pair were never more than a few minutes apart, with the Spaniard’s lead extending and contracting throughout the day.

But while the VW pair (or trio if you include third place Mark Miller, who started the day 28 minutes adrift) battled for the overall lead, it was BMW at the head of the stage. Stephane Peterhansel, fourth overall two hours behind, took the stage lead by usurping Al-Attiyah and putting a 41 second gap between them.

Peterhansel kept the stage lead, with Al-Attiyah behind him finishing 1:21 behind the Frenchman. Peterhansel’s BMW stablemate Guerlain Chicherit was third fastest ahead of Sainz and Miller, the American taking the top-five that his countryman Robby Gordon had seemed destined for, before he and his two-wheel drive Hummer fell to eighth fastest on the stage in the final 40km.

Peterhansels’s stage win moved him back level with Vladimir Chagin for the overall record number of career stage victories (56), the Russian truck racer finishing the stage second today 1:50 behind his Kamaz teammate Firdaus Kabirov who won the 33rd stage of his career.

Al-Attiyah’s finish saw him pick up another 2:32 on Sainz, reducing his overall deficit to just 2:48 with only the final, largely flat, fast 202km stage remaining before the rally finishes in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires on Sunday.

Norwegian Pal Anders Ullevalseter won the bike stage to take his first daily triumph of the year. The KTM rider led at all bar one of the timing points, when Cyril Despres bettered him by 19 seconds after 265km.

The win saw the green-clad veteran finish 5:35 ahead of Francisco Lopez Contardo to retake second overall by a margin of just over four minutes. However, he made no impression of Despres’ commanding overall lead. The Frenchman finishing the stage second fastest only 43 seconds adrift.

Marc Coma finished the stage third fastest while Alain Duclos maintained his form as best amateur by finishing the day fifth fastest and moving back to just three seconds outside the overall top five and David Fretigne who finished the stage eleventh.

In the quad category Christophe Declerck took his second stage win in succession, and his third this year. He was nearly six minutes faster than his nearest rival, Rafal Sonik, who is also chasing Declerck for fourth overall.

The Patronelli brothers, who have doubtless been the class of the quad ranks this year, were an abnormally pedestrian fifth and sixth fastest on stage, overall leader Marcos adding another five minutes to his margin over his elder sibling Alejandro.

Behind them in the overall standings remains Juan Manuel Gonzalez, despite losing nearly an hour on yesterday’s stage alone.

Stage Thirteen Results:

Bikes :

1. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) 3h27:05

2. Cyril Despres (KTM) +0h00:43

3. Marc Coma (KTM) +0h02:46

4. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +0h05:35

5. Alain Duclos (KTM) +0h06:24

Cars :

1. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) 2h58:25

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h01:21

3. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +0h03:45

4. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h03:53

5. Mark Miller (VW) +0h07:29

Quads :

1. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) 4h11:32

2. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +0h05:56

3. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +0h27:14

4. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +0h32:02

5. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h36:16

Trucks :

1. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) 3h38:47

2. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) +0h01:50

3. Martin Macik (Liaz) +0h23:06

4. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +0h23:09

5. Teruhito Sugawara (Hino) +0h55:36

Overall Standings After Stage Thirteen:

Bikes :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 49h38:44

2. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +1h04:12

3. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +1h08:34

4. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +1h20:41

5. David Fretigne (Yamaha) +1h56:06

Cars :

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 45h49:42

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h02:48

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h31:48

4. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +2h16:49

5. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +4h02:42

Quads :

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 62h13:52

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +2h23:33

3. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +5h08:11

4. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) +6h01:18

5. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +6h08:49

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 53h20:29

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +1h11:53

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +10h37:19

4. Martin Macik (Liaz) +12h21:43

5. Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +15h29:54

Truck racer Vladimir Chagin took his 56th career Dakar stage win on today’s 12th stage.

The win was the Russian’s ninth win of this year’s event as he extended his lead over Kamaz teammate Firdaus Kabirov to one hour and 13 minutes.

It was another one-two-three result for the manufacturer, with Ilgizar Mardeev finishing third ahead of the pair of drivers who have consistently been amongst the best non-Kamaz drivers this year: Matric Macik in a Liaz and Marcel Van Vliet in a Ginaf.

Chagin’s stage victory moved him one ahead of Stephane Peterhansel, driving a BMW in this year’s car category, who finished fourth on today’s 476 kilometer stage (which was shortened to 470 kilometers by the time the cars finished due to the sheer number of spectators at the intended finish, and even then included a 130 kilometer "neutralisation" period when cars were not timed).

Instead, it was Carlos Sainz who took the stage win, as the Spaniard sought to repair some of the damage done to his overall lead by his problems yesterday. Unfortunately, while the double World Rally champion took the stage win, it only added 52 seconds to his overall lead. His nearest challenger, VW teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah bounced back up to second-fastest at the end of the stage, despite being over four minutes adrift at 204 kilometer, before the neutralised section.

There were more problems for Guerlain Chicherit who, after winning yesterday’s stage, suffered another set back, damaging his BMW’s right-front suspension and losing over 90 minutes to Sainz. The Frenchman, however, held onto his fifth position overall, though he is now more than four hours behind, and a relatively slender nine minutes ahead of Carlos Sousa, sixth overall in the best of the JMB Stradale Mitsubishi Racing Lancers.

The bikes saw the order change even before the first riders had begun today’s stage, with several riders having their times altered for the better by stewards after incorrect route markers sent them the wrong way. That saw Frans Verhoeven’s stage win erased and instead handed to Marc Coma who started the stage ahead of David Fretigne.

On stage it was another day, when the battle for second, third, and fourth took centre stage. KTM rider Pal Anders Ullevalseter, who was pegged back to equal second with Lopez Contardo by the overnight changes, led much of the stage, with the Chilean, and his other rival, Helder Rodrigues, in close attendance.

However, in the closing kilometres the Norwegian fell behind, finishing third behind Lopez Contardo’s Aprilia and Fretigne, while Marc Coma finished fourth-fastest.

Cyril Despres was missing from timing screens for much of the day.  Rumours of troubles for the Frenchman circulated in the vacuum of information. In reality, he had only fallen to eighth-fastest today, some 17 minutes adrift of the lead pace, though still over an hour in front of the Aprilia, newly ensconced in second overall.

The quad class, now sadly heading for an anti-climatic end, after seeming to promise a close race early on, was won by Christophe Declerck, who re-passed Rafal Sonik in the overall standings.

The Polaris rider finished ahead of the Patronelli brothers, Alejandro leading Marcos home today, while opposite is true in the overall standings. Marcos’ lead still holds at over two hours with Declerck now in third, Juan Manuel Gonzalez not having officially finished the stage yet.

Stage Twelve Results

Bikes :

1. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) 3h48:34

2. David Fretigne (Yamaha) +0h00:40

3. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +0h01:13

4. Marc Coma (KTM) +0h03:08

5. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +0h06:59

Cars :

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 3h30:29

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h00:52

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h04:22

4. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +0h10:49

5. Robby Gordon (Hummer) +0h10:56

Quads :

1. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) 4h52:22

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h01:29

3. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h06:00

4. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +0h09:20

5. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +0h20:32

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 4h27:14

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h01:20

3. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +0h19:40

4. Martin Macik (Liaz) +0h52:04

5. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +0h54:58

Overall Standings After Stage Twelve

Bikes :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 46h10:56

2. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +1h03:42

3. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +1h04:55

4. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +1h13:16

5. David Fretigne (Yamaha) +1h40:12      

Cars :

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 42h47:24

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h05:20

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h28:12

4. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +2h20:42

5. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +4h02:50

Quads :

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 57h26:04

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +2h18:34

3. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) +6h37:34

4. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +6h39:09

5. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +9h27:12

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 49h39:52

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +1h13:43

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +10h16:00

4. Martin Macik (Liaz) +12h00:27

5. Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +14h18:30

A pair of punctures saw Carlos Sainz lose half of his overall lead to teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah as the Dakar crossed back over the Andes and returned to Argentina on stage 11.

The 220 kilometer route saw the stage reach over 3000 meters above sea level before finishing at San Juan, at a little under a third of that altitude.

Sainz, the overall leader by over 10 minutes at the start of the day, led the cars off due to his winning the previous stage and looked like he would strengthen his grip on the title he threw away a year ago.

At the first of the day’s Iritrack points, he was narrowly ahead of Al-Attiyah. Both, however, were still in easy striking distance of the stage lead. But it was soon to go downhill for Sainz.

The VW’s positioning beacon showed Sainz briefly stopped around the 77 kilometer mark. When the car was next seen, it was reported to have significant damage to the roof, and the left air intake for the 300hp TDI engine in the rear was ripped off—damage that isn’t exactly explained by the official reports about the Spaniard suffering two slow punctures.

This left Al-Attiyah with a glaring opportunity to make up time, an opportunity he did not pass up, as the Qatari stayed within two minutes of the stage leaders. Sainz continued to lose time, his engine perhaps suffering as a result of the damage.

The man he ended up chasing was Guerlain Chicherit, another of the inevitable hard luck stories of every Dakar. The Frenchman lies fifth overall, nearly half his two-hour, 23 minute deficit coming on the very first day of the race. But nothing was going to stop him taking his first stage win of the year.

After seeing off the challenge of teammate Peterhansel, who lost five minutes in the second half of the stage, he won the stage by 30 seconds from surprise package Orlando Terranova, the Argentine showing the potential of the petrol-engined Mitsubishi after its diesel failed so dramatically last year.

They were followed by Giniel De Villiers, Al-Attiyah, and Mark Miller completing the top five, with Sainz ninth fastest, seven hours and 19 minutes behind Chicherit.

The bike stage leader board had an unusual feel to it today, many of the more familiar names encountering problems or (as is more than likely in the case of comfortable leader Cyril Despres) just taking the day easy.

Just like in the car race, the first racer on the stage encountered problems. Marc Coma made a navigational error and had to make a six kilometer detour to get back to the right track, losing 10 minutes to the stage leaders he was never able to make up.

It was a battle between American Jonah Street and Dutchman Frans Verhoeven for the stage win as both sought their first victory this year. Street, who lies seventh overall, led the stage early on and held Verhoeven’s BMW off, leading by nine seconds at both of the first half timing points.

But Verhoeven, who lies 49th overall, 16.5 hours behind Despres, had pulled level by 148 kilometers before pulling ahead of Street to win by only three seconds. Alain Duclos, the best amateur overall, was third on stage ahead of Pal Anders Ullevalseter, who pulled ahead in the battle for second.

Firdaus Kabirov once more postponed Vladimir Chagin’s record 56th stage victory, beating his Kamaz teammate by 32 seconds.

Stage 11 results:

Bikes:

1. Frans Verhoeven (BMW) 2h44:50

2. Jonah Street (KTM) +0h00:03

3. Alain Duclos (KTM) +0h01:25

4. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +0h02:26

5. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +0h03:48

Cars:

1. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) 2h34:51

2. Orlando Terranova (Mitsubishi) +0h00:30

3. Giniel De Villiers (VW) +0h00:39

4. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h01:41

5. Mark Miller (VW) +0h02:50

Quads:

1. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) 3h18:33

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h04:31

3. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h05:47

4. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +0h08:57

5. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +0h09:41

Trucks:

1. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) 3h02:53

2. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) +0h00:32

3. Joseph Adua (Iveco) +0h04:45

4. Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +0h15:06

5. Manuel Borrero Gomez (MAN) +0h32:44

Overall Standings After Stage 11:

Bikes:

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 42h05:10

2. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +1h20:54

3. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +1h23:34

4. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +1h30:35

5. Alain Duclos (KTM) +1h54:39

Cars:

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 39h16:55

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h04:28

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h23:50

4. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +2h09:53

5. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +2h23:40

Quads:

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 52h27:42

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +2h23:05

3. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +4h16:46

4. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +6h35:49

5. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) +6h43:34

Trucks:

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 45h12:38

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +1h12:23

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +9h21:02

4. Martin Macik (Liaz) +11h08:23

5. Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +12h57:26

Carlos Sainz won his first stage of this year’s Dakar Rally to extend his overall lead in the car category over VW teammates Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mark Miller.

So far this year, the double World Rally champion has simply been consistent, having never finished outside the top four on any stage. But today, as the rally began the turn for home and returned to the sort of winding tracks that make up WRC stages, the Spaniard’s quality came out.

Sainz only failed to lead at one timing point through the 238km all-gravel stage, when he trailed Miller by seven seconds at 148km.

The fastest half dozen drivers kept up a fast pace all day. The usual armada of VW and BMW machinery were joined by the Mitsubishi of Orlando Terranova within four minutes of each other at stage’s end and another four minutes clear of seventh place Miguel Barbosa in another Mitsubishi.

Stephane Peterhansel’s X-Raid BMW X3 was second fastest, ahead of Miller who lost another minute to the overall leader. Al-Attiyah was another place and 38 seconds back, a margin which saw his deficit creep back over ten minutes. However, the car race remains by far the closest of the event with four stages remaining

Marc Coma, still racing under appeal on his penalty for illegal outside assistance, took his third stage win of the event. He dominated the bike stage, again — like Sainz — only failing to lead at one of the day’s five timing points, as he was fifth fastest to the first point after only 42km.

But Helder Rodrigues, who led at that point, dropped to second by 100km and Coma took control and pulled out a lead of nearly a minute by the next Iritrack point, then over two minutes by the end of the stage.

Overall bike leader Cyril Despres was sixth fastest, the first time the Frenchman has fallen out of the top five on any stage. However, he still managed to extend his lead over Pal Anders Ullevalseter by a minute as the Norwegian fell back towards what is becoming a close battle for the minor podium places.

Ullevalseter is now less than two minutes ahead of the 450cc Aprilia of Francisco Lopez Contardo, who in turn is under a minute clear of Helder Rodrigues.

In the quad class, there was a first stage win for Juan Manuel Gonzalez, or Pedrega as the Spaniard is known. He was over eight minutes ahead of Marcos Patronelli the runaway overall leader, with Sebastian Halpern and Alejandro Patronelli.

In another fight for the minor places, Pole Rafal Sonik passed Christophe Declerck for fourth overall after finishing the stage sixth fastest, fourteen minutes ahead of the Polaris rider.

There was almost an upset in the trucks.

Almost.

Vladimir Chagin was unchallenged at the top of the stage times, his Kamaz taking him to 56th career stage win, now one ahead of Peterhansel for the overall record, but behind on the time sheets was an unusual sight.

Not a Kamaz!

Instead for much of the stage the Iveco of Joseph Adua sandwiched between Chagin and Firdaus Kabirov, who has spent much of the rally in second place. Adua, driving for the Dutch based De Rooy team hed himself around a minute behind Chagin unti the very end of the stage, where he was beaten by Kabirov into second pace by only 14 seconds.

Stage Nine Results

Bikes

1. Marc Coma (KTM) 3h10:43

2. David Fretigne (Yamaha) +0h02:06

3. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +0h02:36

4. Ruben Faria (KTM) +0h03:56

5. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +0h04:57

Cars

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 3h01:05

2. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +0h00:28

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h01:02

4. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h01:40

5. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +0h02:32

Quads

1. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) 3h31:16

2. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h08:27

3. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +0h09:08

4. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h09:41

5. Bernando Graue (Can-Am) +0h18:19

Trucks

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 3h44:23

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h01:24

3. Joseph Adua (Iveco) +0h01:38

4. Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +0h14:14

5. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +0h14:35 

Overall standings after Stage Nine

Bikes

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 39h13:59

2. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +1h22:49

3. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +1h24:07

4. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +1h24:59

5. Alain Duclos (KTM) +1h57:35

Cars

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 36h34:45

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h10:06

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h28:19

4. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +2h14:20

5. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +2h30:59

Quads

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 49h03:22

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +2h24:21

3. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +4h11:36

4. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +6h31:55

5. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) +6h37:32

Trucks

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 35h47:49

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +1h12:25

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +8h35:48

4. Martin Macik (Liaz) +10h22:49

5. Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +12:42:52

Fog was the first problem that the 211 remaining entrants in the Dakar Rally had to face on the ninth stage. However, luckily (or unfortunately depending on your appetite for chaos) the organisers stepped in shortening the stage to only 170km from its original 338. That left the bikes, cars, quads and trucks facing a sprint almost entirely though sand dunes, the two-wheeled racers starting 10 or 20 at a time as they headed out into the desert.

The short stage and the mass start saw a predictably close race for the bikes, with Dutchman Frans Verhoeven (who actually started in the second wave) leading after the short dash to 30km, the fastest 11 riders covered by less than a minute.

But the unforgiving dunes and the tight racing meant even the smallest error or the shortest delay could change the standings and Verhoeven lost over six minutes before the stages one and only remaining Control Point at 117km, dropping to ninth fastest, one place ahead of American Jonah Street who was briefly fourth at 71km.

But not even the shortened stage, sand dunes, and starting waves could stop the stage from becoming another chapter in the war of Cyril Despres versus Marc Coma.

Despres inherited the lead at 117km, Coma four seconds behind. The gap was only one second at 135 before Coma was able to overhaul the Frenchman to lead, again by four seconds, at the finish line to take his third stage win of the event.

Yesterday’s stage winner Francisco Lopez Contardo was third fastest ahead of Pal Anders Ullevalseter, the Norwegian still Despres’ closest challenger in the overall standings.

It was another VW victory in the car race, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah leading all stage for his third victory of this year’s Dakar. He was nearly six minutes faster than Carlos Sainz, cutting the double World Rally champion’s overall lead to only eight minutes in the process. Giniel De Villiers completed another VW podium sweep, with Guerlain Chicherit the fastest BMW in fourth, ten minutes down.

Robby Gordon’s Hummer suffered another day of troubles and delays, even on a day where the stage should have suited the H3 buggy run by the Californian’s own squad. He finished the stage twelfth 39 minutes behind.

There were also more delays of Stephane Peterhansel, who got stuck in the sand after 95km and lost over 17 minutes.

That delay (and Al-Attiyah’s pace) presented Russian Vladimir Chagin with an opportunity to take the outright record for stage wins, and as the trucks started the stage it looked like The Tsar would take his 55th stage. He led his Kamaz teammate Firdaus Kabirov through the first two timing points.

But when the first trucks reached 117km it was Kabirov who led, now with a six minute lead over Chagin, and though Chagin pulled the margin back to four minutes both record chasers remain on 54 stage wins.

Christophe Declerck won his first stage of the event aboard his Polaris quad, beating the Patronelli brothers by less than two minutes, but all three finished 20 minutes clear of fourth place Sebastian Halpern.

Stage Nine Results:

Bikes :

1. Marc Coma (KTM) 2h12:30

2. Cyril Despres (KTM) +0h00:04

3. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +0h01:14

4. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +0h01:23

5. Alain Duclos (KTM) +0h03:15

Cars :

1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) 1h59:28

2. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h05:59

3. Giniel De Villiers (VW) +0h07:38

4. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +0h10:13

5. Mark Miller (VW) +0h10:48

Quads :

1. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) 2h55:30

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h01:33

3. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h01:47

4. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +0h22:23

5. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +0h27:52

Trucks :

1. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) 2h32:20

2. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) +0h04:41

3. Joseph Adua (Iveco) +0h14:40

4. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +1h10:10

5. Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +1h23:37

Overall Results After Stage Nine :

Bikes :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM)35h58:55

2. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +1h21:50

3. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +1h25:31

4. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +1h28:44

5. Alain Duclos (KTM) +1h55:40

Cars :

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 33h33:40

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h08:36

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h27:17

4. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +2h13:52

5. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +2h28:27

Quads:

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 45h23:39

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +2h23:07

3. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +4h20:03

4. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) +6h11:18

5. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +6h20:11

Trucks:

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 35h47:49

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +1h11:31

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +8h21:13

4. Martin Macik (Liaz) +10h07:25

5. Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +12:28:38

After a rest day on Chile’s Pacific Coast the 2010 Dakar reconvened for the eighth stage, a 472 km run south back for Antofagasta to Copiapo including a 90km stretch through sand dunes to close out the day.

But just because Saturday was a rest doesn’t mean there was no news to report. Following accusations on Friday’s seventh stage that KTM rider Marc Coma received a new rear tire from an outsider on the stage, rally officials levied a six hour penalty on the Spaniard. Similarly the overall leader in the quad category, Marcos Patronelli, was given a three hour penalty for outside assistance he received in Iquique, the city at the rally’s northernmost point that was the campsite on Thursday.

While both threatened to quit the event as a result, Marcos joined by his older brother Alejandro, all three were on the start line for today’s stage, Coma having plummeted to 24th overall while Patronelli gave up the overall lead, though fell only 37 minutes behind his brother.

Predictably then Sunday saw Coma in full attack mode, among the top five riders throughout the stage while Cyril Despres, now furnished with a 1h20 overall lead, seemed to be taking things a little easier, the Frenchman happy to stay at arms’ length to the pace of the stage leaders’ battle.

For much of the stage that battle was between Aprilia rider Francisco Lopez Contardo and KTM’s Pal Anders Ullevalseter, the Chilean taking the lead at checkpoint 3 at 245 never to sacrifice it as he took his second stage win of the event.

Coma eventually took second only 42 seconds slower, rising to 17th overall, though still seven hours behind Despres, who finished the stage fifth fastest behind Ullevalseter and David Fretigne.  

The car race continues to be by far the closest, with just 14 minutes between the top two, though both Carlos Sainz and Nasser Al-Attiyah (and third place Mark Miller) are VW works drivers.

However, it was their rival this year, BMW, who came out with another stage win after a surprisingly topsy-turvy day on the stage. The X3 of Guerlain Chicherit led through the first checkpoint before he succumbed to a cocktail of problems including a rear puncture and electrical problems before 199km.

That saw control handed over to teammate Stephane Peterhansel as it was all change in the top five as Robby Gordon’s Hummer bounced up to second fastest ahead of the remaining quarted of VW Touaregs.

Then it was all change again, with Miller leaving a VW trio to the top of the times, as Peterhansel slipped to fifth, Gordon’s Hummer suffered yet another setback, falling to sixteenth and the privateer Mitsubishi of Orlando Terranova moved into fourth.

The Argentine moved up to third by checkpoint three as De Villiers moved into the lead before Peterhansel recovered to overhaul the South African in the dying kilometres as he fell back to fourth behind Sainz and Miller. Terranova was sixth fastest, taking the honour of fastest non German car. Gordon finished tenth fastest, losing another 37 minutes to the leaders, but maintaining his overall tenth position and his dominance in the Open category of the class.

In the beleaguered quad race, where only 14 competitors started the day, it was another Patronelli day as Marcos led home Alejandro by a margin of only 56 seconds. In fact it was a double win for the younger sibling with news coming mid-stage that the official who made the allegations of outside assistance had dropped his complaint, the three hour penalty being immediately expunged, returning Marcos to his commanding lead.

Vladimir Chagin kept pace with Stephane Peterhansel as bother recorded their 53rd career stage win, the Russian bringing his Kamaz home for another victory ahead of teammate Firdaus Kabirov, extending his lead by another 12 minutes.

The Kamaz pair, and the attendant Ginaf and Liaz teams were joined by another name, Japanese marquee Hino with driver Teruhito Sugawara who finished the stage sixth fastest to move into fifth overall.

Stage Eight Results:

Bikes:

1. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) 5h29:25

2. Marc Coma (KTM) +0h00:42

3. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +0h01:22

4. David Fretigne (Yamaha) +0h03:19

5. Cyril Despres (KTM) +0h06:43

Cars:

1. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) 5h06:05

2. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h00:45

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h01:07

4. Giniel De Villiers (VW) +0h04:01

5. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h04:17

Quads:

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 7h25:38

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h00:56

3. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) +0h02:35

4. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +0h10:03

5. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +0h17:20

Trucks:

Results not available at time of writing

Overall Standings After Stage Eight:

Bikes:

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 33h46:21

2. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +1h20:31

3. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +1h24:21

4. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +1h25:!5

5. Alain Duclos (KTM) +1h52:29

Cars:

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 31h28:13

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h14:35

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h22:28

4. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +2h02:25

5. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +2h24:13

Quads:

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 46h26:22

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +2h23:21

3. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +3h27:29

4. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +5h54:06

5. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) +6h13:05

Trucks:

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 30h06:14

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +1h03:46

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +5h47:00

4. Martin Macik (Liaz) +7h04:19

5. Johan Elfrink (Mercedes) +8h04:14

The final stage before the halfway rest day on the Dakar Rally saw the longest single stage of the rally, at 600km. Competitors took on sand dunes, salt flats, and a 100km stretch of normal, boring highway as racing was neutralised to go round a natural reserve.

But despite the length of the stage it was arguably the quietest day of the rally. Perhaps drivers and riders simply aimed to make it to the Pacific coast city of Antofagasta for a day off; or they took into account the plight of Luca Manca, now at a hospital in Santiago after yesterday’s horrific accident ended his rally.

The bikes saw overall leader Cyril Despres extend his lead with another stage win, his second of the event. The long stage saw the provisional lead change hands; Norwegian Pal Anders Ullevalseter leading until the 141km mark, David Fretigne emerging ahead after the neutralisation at 277km before Fransisco Lopez Contardo took the lead.

In the final third of the stage it was, again, a battle between Marc Coma and Despres, the Spaniard leading by only 10 seconds at the last timing point before the end of the stage. However, by the end of the stage it was Despres who was fastest, though only by a margin of 29 seconds.

Fretigne was a distant third, five minutes behind, ahead of Ruben Faria and Ullevalseter.

But the day was not without its talking points. At the time of writing (8 p.m. Chilean time) Marc Coma was in a meeting with officials. It is alleged that Coma received a new wheel from an outsider on the stage; if proved, that could see a penalty assessed or even exclusion from the event, where a racer's ability to repair his vehicle on stage is as important as his ability to drive fast.

For the car class it was another familiar story as the VW and BMW squads went toe to toe once again.

Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) swapped the provisional fastest time all day with VW’s Nasser Al-Attiyah (save for one timing point when Robby Gordon almost inexplicably jumped out to a three minute lead).

For the final third of the stage Al-Attiyah pulled out a lead, 44 seconds at 448km all the way to 3:29 ahead of the Frenchman by the end of the stage. VW teammates Carlos Sainz and Mark Miller were ahead of a second BMW, this time piloted by Guerlain Chicherit rounding up the top five.

It was also a day when the privateer challenge faded just a little more. JMB Stradale Mitsubishi driver Carlos Souza lost an hour and 39 minutes having to improvise his braking system after an early failure with a repair that appeared to involve a pair of pliers taped to the car’s front suspension!

Faring even worse was Robby Gordon and his Hummer, who lost over two hours after an alternator failure forced the NASCAR driver to stop after 480km and wait for teammate RJ Baldwin who was carrying a spare. Krzysztof Holowczyc’s Nissan now stands as the best privateer, sixth overall, 13 minutes down on fifth placed Peterhansel.

Alejandro Patronelli won the stage in the quad class from his brother, Marcos, who now leads the class overall by two hours. That massive margin is partly down to the apparent retirement of Jorge Miguel Santamarina who had been his closest challenger (though even he was 1h26 behind at the beginning of the day).

Santamarina’s demise, and a 52 minute delay for Spaniard Juan Manuel Gonzalez, sees the Argentinean brothers now one-two in the standings.

Predictably, it was another day of Kamaz schooling the remainder of the field in the truck class, though with a twist. Up front it was Vladimir "The Tsar" Chagin winning another stage, his 53rd career victory, equaling Peterhansel for the outright record.

Second again was Firdaus Kabirov, but missing was the third Kamaz of Ilgizar Mardeev, the Russian, having stopped after 257km with mechanical problems and still yet to complete the stage nearly twelve hours after starting out from Iquique this morning.

Stage Seven Results

Bikes :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 6h34:14

2. Marc Coma (KTM) +0h00:29

3. David Fretigne (Yamaha) +0h05:00

4. Ruben Faria (KTM) +0h09:10

5. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +0h11:10

Cars :

1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) 5h41:29

2. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +0h03:29

3. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h04:21

4. Mark Miller (VW) +0h08:40

5. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +0h15:33

Quads :

1. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) 8h10:22

2. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h03:30

3. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +0h30:13

4. Christophe Declerck (Polaris) +0h30:35

5. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +0h31:16

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 6h50:20

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h25:35

3. Martin Macik (Liaz) +1h39:22

4. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +1h40:20

5. Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +1h44:29

Overall Standings After Stage Seven

Bike :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 28h10:13

2. Marc Coma (KTM) +1h06:50

3. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +1h20:08

4. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +1h25:52

5. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +1h31:04

Cars :

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 26h21:23

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h11:03

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h22:06

4. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +2h02:54

5. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +2h03:10

Quads :

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 35h00:34

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +2h22:25

3. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +3h17:26

4. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +4h59:53

5. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +5h36:46

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 30h06:14

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +1h03:46

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +5h47:00

4. Martin Macik (Liaz) +7h04:19

5. Johan Elfrink (Mercedes) +8h04:14

Another day in South America on the Dakar Rally saw another long stage, this time 418km heading north in the Atacama Desert, passing though rocky trails, across the driest place on earth, and ending with a trip down a wall of sand before arriving at the overnight campsite.

The bikes saw another Marc Coma and Cyril Despres duel. Despres jumped out to an early lead after yesterday’s stage winner Francisco Lopez took the wrong route, with several other lead riders, including David Fretigne, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, and Coma following the Chilean and losing time.

Despres, however, did not follow, and by the first checkpoint the Frenchman had a 1:44 lead over Olivier Pain, with Lopez Contardo falling 14 minutes behind though Coma only lost two minutes to the overall leader.

That was only a minor problem for Coma, who reeled in Despres’ stage lead and had pulled out a forty second lead less than 100km later. From there there was no looking back for Coma (though the all too common timing failure meant the domination was temporarily silent).

He lead by over three minutes at the second checkpoint, and as Despres slowed—the timing showing Lopez Contardo and Helder Rodrigues making up six and four minutes respectively on the KTM rider.

By the end of the stage, when timing picked Coma up again, he was ten minutes ahead of Despres, with Rodrigues and Lopez Contardo recovering to third and fourth to hold onto their overall positions, although now with Marc Coma in fourth a little over an hour behind Despres.

Sadly, however, today was another day when the stage winners were overshadowed by those who have been forced to retire from the rally, with the news that Italian privateer Luca Manca had suffered severe injuries after crashing in the opening kilometres of the stage.

Manca, who helped Marc Coma yesterday, giving him his rear tyre after the Spaniard’s failed, was taken straight to a local hospital, rather than the campsite, with plans to transfer him a unit in Santiago, the Chilean capital. His condition is described as serious and life-threatening.

In the cars it was a happier day, though not without its accidents as VW driver Mauricio Neves rolled his Race Touareg 2 out of the rally.

While Robby Gordon Motorsport driver Robert Baldwin led the stage early on, it was Stephane Peterhansel who led much of the stage.

Having lost over two hours yesterday with a driveshaft problem that dropped him out of the overall, the BMW driver had nothing to lose, and was back at the head of the stage, winning his 53rd stage of his Dakar career, extending his record.

He led home the customary trail of VWs, with Carlos Sainz, Mark Miller and Nasser Al-Attiyah (Giniel de Villers in the remaining VW finishing the stage eighth fastest) with Russian Leonid Novitskiy in another X-Raid BMW finishing fifth.

Robby Gordon suffered another day of losing ground to the leaders, ending the stage 49 minutes behind, and slipping to sixth overall.

In the truck race it was another day of Kamaz domination, as Vladimir Chagin took his fifth stage win of the year ahead of teammates Firdaus Kabirov and Ilgizar Mardeev, the Russian winning his 52nd Dakar stage as he and Peterhansel battle for the record.

Overall the stage saw Chagin further extend his overall lead over Kabirov to 38:11.

Stage Six Results

Bikes :

1. Marc Coma (KTM) 4h46:59

2. Cyril Despres (KTM) +0h10:34

3. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +0h10:38

4. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +0h15:12

5. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +0h17:09

Cars :

1. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) 4h23:55

2. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h00:47

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h08:55

4. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h11:34

5. Leonid Novitskiy (BMW) +0h17:32

Quads :

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 5h58:50

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h18:10

3. Jorge Miguel Santamarina (Can-AM) +0h25:27

4. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +0h29:16

5. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +0h46:38

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 4h55:22

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h12:03

3. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +0h31:07

4. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +0h59:14

5. Martin Macik (Liaz) +1h09:06

Overall Standings after Stage Six

Bikes :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 21h35:59

2. Francisco Lopes Contardo (Aprilia) 0h42:15

3. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) 0h44:05

4. Marc Coma (KTM) +1h06:21

5. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +1h14:42

Cars :

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 20h35:33

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h15:24

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h17:47

4. Carlos Souza (Mitsubishi) +1h34:04

5. Krzysztof Holowczyc (Nissan ) +1h43:40

Quads :

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 26h46:52

2. Jorge Manuel Santamarina (Can-Am) +1h26:03

3. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +1h53:51

4. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +2h25:55

5. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +4h32:07

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 18h20:32

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h26:08

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +3h07:26

4. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +3h41:12

5. Martin Macik  (Liaz) +5h24:57

Today the Dakar Rally went from one extreme to another, following yesterday’s short stage with a 483km long epic, skirting Chile’s Atacama Desert between Copiapo and Antofagasta.

The result was one was of those days the Dakar Rally is famous for, with stage leads shifting and changing like the sands of the desert they’re racing through, and some competitors’ chances of an overall victory seem to have slipping though their fingers.

Nowhere was this more evident than in the bikes. Frenchman Cyril Despres started the day leading from David Casteu by a little under nine minutes, with Spaniard (and reigning champion) Marc Coma trying to stage a comeback after winning yesterday’s stage trying to fight back from several delays.

And early on in the stage it looked like the Coma renaissance would continue, as he took the stage lead from Despres in time for the second checkpoint at 138km. Coma was flying Despres by six minutes at the next checkpoint as he moved into the overall top five and toward a second consecutive stage victory—the first this year for anyone outside of the Truck class.

But it too was short lived as the Spaniard was stopped again by mechanical issues and lost 40 minutes fixing his bike. That, of course, saw Despres back into the stage lead, followed by Chilean Francisco Lopez Contardo and Casteu.

Or at least it should have been Casteu, had the Frenchman and his 450cc Sherco not been the latest victim of what is turning into an unforgiving race. The man who had won the opening stage fell heavily after 395km severely injuring his leg.

Such was the severity of his injury he was unable to set off his emergency beacon with David Fretigne and Paulo Goncalves stopping to help Casteu for the five minutes before a helicopter evacuated him to the bivouac for medical attention.

Casteu’s misfortune left Despres and Lopez Contardo alone at the head of the stage times, Fretigne third fastest, now twelve minutes adrift. In the closing kilometres, the home country hero eclipsed Despres, leading at the fourth and final checkpoint by 1:14, extending his lead by another sixteen seconds to take the stage win in his home country and giving the Italian manufacturer better known for Superbike exploits its first Dakar stage win.

Fretigne finished the stage third ahead of Despres’ teammate Ruben Faria and Norwegian privateer Pal Anders Ullevalseter.

It was a similarly topsy-turvy day in the cars. The VW army were in fine form early on in the stage with the five Race Touareg 2 machines of Mark Miller, Giniel de Villiers, Carlos Sainz, Mauricio Neves, and Nasser Al-Attiyah locking out the top five positions at the first checkpoint.

And then the day got better for VW, as it got worse for Stephane Peterhansel.

The BMW driver, then the only man who stood between VW and domination, stopped apparently with driveshaft problems at 135km. He tried to repair the car and minimize the time lost to the Touareg phalanx, but it was to no avail.

When the X-Raid car finally got going again it had lost over and hour to Miller, the leading VW, and was struggling as the problem had left the normally 4WD BMW languishing with 2WD.

That handed the non-VW stage win challenge duties over to a car that was intended to be 2WD: Robby Gordon’s Hummer Buggy.

Gordon, starting first today after his narrow win yesterday, was fast throughout the day looked like he could spring another surprise as he gained on Miller through the second half of the stage.

He was six minutes behind at 224km, four minutes 100km later, and had pulled in to scarcely two minutes behind before the final, mostly downhill, 27km blast to the stage finish.

And when the results came in it was an American at the top.

But that American was not Robby Gordon, it was Mark Miller (from Phoenix) who won the stage ahead of teammates Sainz (who took the overall lead) and Al-Attiyah, Gordon’s Hummer losing two minutes and slipping to fourth fastest.

Struggles for the pre-stage leaders were again a theme of the quad class, as the curse of the stage win struck again, with Alejandro Patronelli the latest victim as the Yamaha ride lost nearly 90 minutes between 138km and 187km.

With his brother disappearing down the order, Marcos Patronelli had the opportunity to extend his overall lead. Having taken the stage lead after Martin Plechaty had crashed into retirement at 127km, the younger brother exchanged the lead with Uruguayan Luis Henderson before pulling out nearly a 20 minute lead at the third checkpoint at 339km.

Patronelli won the stage in 7h39:49, underlining the huge proportions of the day, beating his countryman Jorge Miguel Santamarina by 29:41.

Stage Five Results

Bikes :

1. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) 5h52:40

2. Cyril Despres (KTM) +0h01:30

3. David Fretigne (Yamaha) +0h13:13

4. Ruben Faria (KTM) +0h15:09

5. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +0h18:24

Cars :

1. Mark Miller (VW) 5h06:15

2. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h02:10

3. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h04:27

4. Robby Gordon (Hummer) +0h04:48

5. Mauricio Neves (VW) +0h09:21

Quads :

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 7h39:49

2. Jorge Miguel Santamarina (Can-Am) +0h29:41

3. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +0h32:54

4. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) +0h40:18

5. Bernardo Graue (Can-Am) +1h31:04

Trucks :

1. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) 5h48:50

2. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) +0h00:19

3. Joseph Adua (Iveco) +0h37:48

4. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +0h42:28

5. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +0h43:12

 

Overall Standings After Stage Five

Bikes :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 16h38:26

2. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +0h37:37

3. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +0h44:01

4. Alain Duclos (KTM) +1h01:34

5. Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM) +1h08:07   

Cars :

1. Carlos Sainz (VW) 16h10:51

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h04:37

3. Mark Miller (VW) +0h09:39

4. Robby Gordon (Hummer) +0h59:55

5. Carlos Souza (Mitsubishi) +1h13:22

Quads :

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 20h48:02

2. Jorge Miguel Santamarina  (Can-Am) +1h00:36

3. Juan Manuel Gonzalez  (Yamaha) +1h07:13

4. Alejandro Patronelli  (Yamaha) +2h07:45

5. Oldrich Brazina  (Polaris) +2h47:23

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 18h20:32

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h26:08

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +3h07:26

4. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +3h41:12

5. Johan Elfrink (Mercedes) +4h06:14