Carlos Sainz retires from the Dakar, De Villiers is back in the lead!...

How quickly things change on the Dakar, with victory in their grasp,Volkswagen driver Carlos Sainz of Spain, left, and KTM rider Marc Coma of Spain speak during meal time at the Argentina, with Saniz now out, Coma will push on in his bid to win the bike catagory. (AP Photo)

Thursday January 15th, BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Dakar Rally leader Carlos Sainz abandoned the race Thursday after his Volkswagen careened into a ravine. He was uninjured.
Sainz, a two-time world rally champion, and French co-pilot Michel Perin were taken by helicopter to Fiambala, where the 12th stage had begun, Dakar Rally spokesman Emilie Poucan told the Associated Press.
Sainz missed a sharp turn and tumbled 13 feet into a ravine, flipping his car at the 49-mile mark of the 157-mile stage from Fiambala to La Rioja.
Poucan said Sainz wasn't hurt and could have continued the race but Perin slightly injured his shoulder, forcing the pair to quit.
Thursday's stage has been the most difficult since the rally began on Jan. 3 in Buenos Aires, said Poucan, with drivers struggling through sand dunes and rain in western Argentina.

After a day of almost forced rest due to fog on Stage 11, the contenders still in the race were given a short but demanding day: 213 km including the last sand dunes to be crossed in this 31st edition. That was certainly enough to provide for an unexpected turn of events. On the bikes Marc Coma did damage control on his adversaries. Cyril Despres wins his 20th special stage victory in a Dakar and reaches 2nd place in the general standings.
At the start in Fiambala, Marc Coma, comfortable leader in the general standings with more than 90’ lead, had enough margin for maneuver. The Catalan therefore raced wisely. Not taking any inconsiderate risk either to come back on one of his adversaries, Cyril Despres who had started 2’ before kept a sufficiently high pace not to be overtaken by his lieutenant David Frétigné who was right behind him. In a nutshell, this race was the right race for a probable future Dakar winner. And in the sand of the Catamarca Province, the most inspired was - again - Cyril Despres. His tyre problems from the early stage, which might turn out to have been fatal for him when it comes to final victory, seem very far away now that he is back in Argentina. The KTM rider had no concern for the others; he took the lead of the stage right after the first CP (km 62) and kept it till the finishing line. A lone race that allows the Frenchman to get his 4th stage victory in this rally, i.e. a third of all stages of the raid. In total, his Dakar stage victory counter is not at 20 special stages won in all his participations. Despres finally wins over Marc Coma by 1’23" and Farres Guell by 9’47". Moreover, the title holder benefited from oil problems for David Frétigné who lost more than 10 minutes on today’s stage and David now ranks second in the general standings. Marc Coma now has a 1h29’ lead over Despres and a 1h33’ lead over Frétigné.

source, AP, Dakar.com

Spaniards Rule the Dakar.

Spain's Marc Coma rides his KTM during the seventh stage of the South American edition of the Dakar 2009 from Mendoza to Valparaiso. Reuter Photo:

Friday January 09, 09: With Carlos Sainz in the overall lead of the Rally in the BMW [CAR], fellow Spaniard Marc Coma continues to hold the lead in the Bike category, Coma finished second today on stage 7, 3:57 off the pace of stage winner Chilean Francisco Lopez (KTM). This is the first stage victory for Lopez. Frances Cyril Despres [KTM] rounded out the top three. The amazing ride of American privateer Jonah Street continues, although Jonah only managed 6th overall today he is still in second overall. At this point Jonah really needs to focus on holding his position as Coma is 51:22 ahead, while Franchmen David Fretigne is looking to spoil the party for KTM, pushing his Yamaha WRF450 to within one minute of Street.
Tomorrow is going to be a much needed rest day for the driver and riders, before tackling the final eight stages.

Despres steps up and take stage 6 victory on Dakar 2009

France's Cyril Despres riding his KTM arrives in Argentina's city of Mendoza, January 8, 2009, after the sixth stage of the South American edition of the Dakar 2009 from San Rafael to Mendoza. RUETERS PHOTO

On a shortened 6th stage, Cyril Despres grabbed his first special stage victory on the Dakar in 2009. For once free of tire trouble, the Frenchman beat off his rival Marc Coma. The Spanish rider increased his advantage in the general standings and now boasts a lead of 40 minutes over Jonah Street, his nearest rival. Al Attiyah was again out at the front of the field in the car race, but may have only scored a Pyrrhic victory.

Due to the difficult nature of the previous day’s stage and a flooded river ford, the bikers set off this morning from San Rafael on a shortened special stage, which finished after 178 km, in the pretty village of La Junta at the foot of the Andes. After his success yesterday, American Jonah Street kicked off proceedings before being caught up by a pack of bikers hungry for victory.

Having started in eighth place, Cyril Despres proved to be the quickest on the section of dunes at the start of the day. The Frenchman posted the best time at CP1 (after 86 km) then headed for the finish alongside Street and Lopez until the finishing line, where he picked up his first special stage victory on this 31st edition of the race, and his 17th on the Dakar. Still as imperial as ever, general standings leader Marc Coma finished 2nd today, only giving up 2.09 to Despres, considered as his main rival at the start of the rally in Buenos Aires.

The KTM-Repsol team this evening boasts two representatives in the first three places, with Jordi Viladoms third-placed finish, 5.15 behind the day’s winner. In the general standings, Coma increased his lead.

The Catalan is now 40.29 ahead of Jonah Street, who lost more than a quarter of an hour today. David Frétigné is still third, 47 minutes behind. Cyril Despres climbed to 7th position, but is still more than an hour and a half behind Coma. The sixth stage was conducted at neck-breaking speed by the car drivers. Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah was first to CP 1. He seemed to be flying through the race and crushing all opposition with a lead of more than twenty minutes over all his rivals.

However, due to an overheating engine, the BMW X-Raid team driver admitted to having missed a way point after 38 km, and therefore the chain of dunes at the beginning of the special stage, to avoid significant mechanical problems. His first place for today’s stage and in the general standings now hangs on the race stewards’ decision. Behind him, there is an almighty struggle, conducted at the same crazy pace, with Giniel de Villiers at his best, day after day proving himself to be a credible leader for the Volkswagen team. The South African finished 5.07 behind Al Attiyah, the unofficial winner, whilst Mark Miller was only 5.27 behind. Completing the pursuing pack on the tail of the Qatari, Carlos Sainz took 4th place on this special, 8.37 behind.

As a result, the three VW are lying in wait in the general standings in which De Villiers is second 7.31 behind, Sainz 3rd 15.16 behind and Miller 4th 25.22 behind. The second batch of pursuers has been cut down to two following the withdrawal of Luc Alphand, after his co-pilot Gilles Picard encountered health problems after the 12-km mark, and was evacuated to Mendoza. However, fortunately the doctors reported nothing serious.

The Mitsubishis of Roma and Peterhansel are respectively 5th and 6th, 38.44 and 41.58 behind the leader in the general standings. In the T2 category, the battle also raged for this short but demanding stage. The first four vehicles in the Production standings were separated by 7 minutes. In the end, it was Jun Mitsuhashi for Toyota who best represented the category. In the general standings, Frenchman Nicolas Gibon leads the way with a lead of more than half an hour over Spaniard Xavier Foj. As for the truck race, Gerard de Rooy in his Ginaf, who started out from San Rafael with a 13-second lead in the general standings on his closest pursuer in a Kamaz, was unable to repeat yesterday’s resistance against the Russian fleet. He finished 25.53 behind Chagin, who won the special stage, and as such, the son of Jan de Rooy lost the lead in the general standings to Firdaus Kabirov, second today, and is now in third place. Chagin is the new second-placed driver.

Mitsubishi driver Stephane Peterhansel of France competes during the 6th stage of the Argentina Dakar Rally 2009 between San Rafael and Mendoza, Argentina, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. AP PHOTO

17:05 - Car
Summary of stage 6
Pending validation of results by the race stewards, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (BMW) looks to have won the 6th special, 5.07 in front of the Volkswagen of Giniel de Villiers. The South African came home ahead of his two VW team-mates, American Mark Miller, 3rd 5.27 behind the provisional winner, and Spaniard Carlos Sainz, 4th 8.37 behind the Qatari. In 5th, with a gap of 13.14 from Al-Attiyah, lies Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel, the leading Mitsubishi driver. As a result, in the general standings, the Qatari leads, 7.31 ahead of South African De Villiers and 15.10 in front of “El Matador” Sainz. In the Open category, Robby Gordon (Hummer) is in the lead, whereas in the Production category, Frenchman Nicolas Gibon (Toyota) leads the category.
Source: Dakar.com

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