Sainz dominant at Dakar

SPAIN’S two-time rally world champion Carlos Sainz extended his overall lead in the Dakar Rally on Monday as he won the ninth stage after a 430-km run from La Serena to Copiapo.

Sainz, who was winning his fifth stage of this year’s edition and third in a row, beat home his teammate Mark Miller of the United States by 1min 47sec, a result which saw the latter climb into second place, 19min 52sec behind the Spaniard.
Miller benefited from a poor stage for South African Giniel De Villiers, who got lost at the 80-km mark and lost 12min 01sec to slip down into third place overall.
Sainz was mightily relieved to have come through the stage unscathed.
‘This special was very hard, very, very hard,’ said Sainz.
‘There were a lot of stones and difficult navigation. It was really complicated. Just finishing is already a triumph. Just finishing without problems is a triumph.’
Miller said that he had enjoyed every minute of the stage.
‘I’ve been waiting a year for that stage,’ he said.
‘Carlos beat us by more than a minute, I guess, but it was a great day, a really, really fun day.
‘I had a smile on my face from the start until the finish.’
Dutch rider Frans Verhoeven, on a KTM, won the motorcycle section.
Marc Coma of Spain, who finished fourth on the day, 4min 59sec behind Verhoeven, kept the overall lead in the standings.
It was the Dutchman’s second stage win on this year’s race, having claimed the second stage between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madryn in Argentina.
Frenchman David Fretigne, on his 450cc Yamaha, finished second, 3min 09sec behind Verhoeven, with Chilean Francisco Lopez (KTM) a further 31sec adrift.
‘This morning, I set off 33rd because I struggled a bit Sunday after I broke my navigation tools,’ said Verhoeven.
‘Today, it was a real special, there was a bit of everything. We really enjoyed it, especially me. I attacked well all day long and I’m happy because it all paid off.
‘At the start it was difficult because the sun was rising, there was dust in the mountains and still a bit of fog. I didn’t take too many risks, but afterwards when I could see better, I really went for it.’
Fretigne, who sits in second overall one hour four minutes behind Coma, said: ‘It was a stage for navigating and very hard. 430 kilometres for a special stage is very long. There was a bit of everything in this stage, and no room for error.
‘We kept moving from one valley to another. There were lots of off-track sections with dunes and stones. This morning I didn’t want to ride too quickly.
‘I wanted to navigate well more than anything. But in the end, I was quite quick. I caught up with a lot of riders who had got lost. Since navigation is my weak point, it was no bad thing.’ – Supersport