Carlos Sainz rolls on stage 5 of Dakar 09.

Driver Carlos Sainz of Spain steers his damaged Volkswagen which he rolled during the 5th stage of the Argentina Dakar Rally 2009 between Neuquen and San Rafael, Argentina, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Saniz drops to third 06:33 off the pace of Al ATTIYAH in the BMW.

AP:PHOTO

USA/KTM rider Jonah Street takes Stage 5 at the Dakar Rally.

Jonah Street of the U.S. rides his KTM during the 763 kilometres (474 miles) fifth stage of the South American edition of the Dakar 2009 from Neuquen to San Rafael, January 7, 2009. Picture AP

Jonah Street (USA - KTM) - 026
"Obviously, I worked a lot to get this; I had been dreaming of a stage victory for so long. It’s really special. I did some pretty good navigating. I was not the fastest because my bike is so much slower than the ones of the manufacturers’ riders. But I found the right path and this is what the Dakar is all about. I am not thinking about the general standings. I just want to go on driving at my own pace and taking care of my bike as good as I can to get to the finish of the raid." Street's victory puts him second overall behind fellow KTM rider Marc Coma

Tragedy on the Dakar Rally, but the race goes on.

French motorcyclist Pascal Terry (R) takes photos of fellow riders as he participates in the racers' presentation a day before the start of the Dakar Rally 2009, in Buenos Aires: Reuters Photo



Dakar announces the death of one of the French Bike riders, "It is with great sadness that the organization has been informed that rider Pascal Terry (192), 49 years old, has been found dead in the night of January 6th to 7th at 2:10 AM.
The biker was in a very hard-to-reach area in the middle of very dense bush-like vegetation 15m from his bike. He had taken his helmet off and had sought shade; he had food and water by him. The Las Pampas Province police and authorities will now carry out the necessary legal investigation in order to determine the causes of the biker’s death".

The Race goes on.

23:00 - Car
Stage 5: summary
Pending validation, South-Africa’s Giniel de Villiers (VW) has won his first stage in the rally raid, his 9th on the total of his participations in the Dakar, 2’18" ahead of his team mate from Volkswagen, Germany’s Dieter Depping, and 4’12" in front of the Hummer of American driver Robby Gordon. Fourth at 5’23", Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (BMW), is today’s top strategist. Indeed, benefitting from a somersault of Spaniard driver Carlos Sainz (VW) in the last part of the special stage, the Qatari has taken the lead in the general standings, 2’24" ahead of South-Africa’s De Villiers, who is also the new second place and 6’33" ahead of "El Matador" Sainz. In the new Open category, it is a new victory for Robby Gordon (Hummer), who gets a nice third place.

22:54 - Bike
Stage 5: summary
Pending validation, US rider Jonah Street (KTM) has won stage 5; it is the American’s first stage victory on the Dakar. He wins with a 7’34" lead over Chile’s Francisco "Chaleco" Lopez (KTM) and an 11’12" lead over the 450cc Yamaha of French rider David Frétigné. Therefore, in the general standings, Spanish rider Marc Coma (KTM), who has lost 17’ today due to a flat tyre, is now 27’12" ahead of Street, which stengthens his position at the top of the marathon category and 39’09" ahead of Frenchman David Frétigné (Yamaha), who is the leader in the 450cc category.

22:49 - Truck
Stage 5: summary
Pending validation, Russian driver Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) has won stage 5; it is his first stage victory in this 31st edition of the Dakar but his 26th stage victories on his total participation in the rally raid. He won with a 12’19" lead over his countryman and team mate Vladimir Chagin and a 12’28" lead over Dutchman Gerard de Rooy (Ginaf). By a way of consequence, in the general standings, Gérard De Rooy (Ginaf) remains the leader in the rally but for only 13 seconds in front of the Russian Kamaz of Firdaus Kabirov, who is brand new in second place. The Czar, Chagin, is ranking 3rd, 10’05" behind the Dutchman.

22:45 - Quad
Stage 5: summary
Pending validation, Spain’s Joan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) won stage 5, hence achieving here his 2nd consecutive success on the Dakar with a 24’06" lead over Czech Republic’s Josef Machacek (Yamaha) and 1h11’38" ahead of Italian driver Marcos Patronelli (Can-Am). In the general standings, Gonzalez is now in the lead.