Carlos Sainz moved atop the overall standings of the Dakar Rally in winning yesterday’s ninth stage as Sebastien Loeb fell further behind after struggling in sandy conditions. Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah finished the stage in fifth. The Qatari had won the eighth stage on Monday but could not repeat his performance yesterday.
The stage around Belen was cut short because of searing heat and the many difficulties encountered by competitors between Belen and Fiambala.
For the motorbikes, the stage was halted after 179km of the day’s planned 436km run with the riders continuing on in convoy to the finish line, apart from some 30 competitors who had already reached that point.
For cars, the race was also shortened to the 179km mark, of the planned 396km, of which 285km were timed. Temperatures were between 37 and 40 degrees Celsius (98-104 degrees fahrenheit).
Al-Attiyah hit the front at the first control point, outpacing Toyota’s Leeroy Poulter by 11 seconds and Mikko Hirvonen by 27 as leader Stephane Peterhansel finished nearly two minutes behind and Sainz lost over three to the Qatari.
By Waypoint 3, however, Peterhansel had lost over 11 minutes to al-Attiyah and around seven to Sainz.
But the Spaniard, second in the standings until today, sped up towards the finish and moved into the lead, finishing with a time of 2h35m31s at the point where the stage was neutralised due to the heat.
Sainz held off the Minis of Erik van Loon and Mikko Hirvonen by 10 and 17sec respectively.
Stephane Peterhansel, who finished 9:12 behind Peugeot teammate Sainz, lost the command of the overall standings to the Spaniard, the latter now leading the Frenchman by 7:03.
After rolling his Peugeot on Monday, Loeb struggled in the dunes, becoming stuck in the sand on several occasions.
The nine-time world rally champion from France eventually limped home in 18th spot, 1hr 13min behind Sainz.
After the arrival of just 10 motorbikes at the finish line, Australian KTM rider Toby Price, the overall race leader, had clocked the fastest time of 3hr 55min 51sec.
But organisers could decide to recalculate the times at the 179km mark where Price also had the best time.
There was more drama for departing French competitor Lionel Baud.
On Saturday’s stage seven, Baud hit and killed a 63-year-old Bolivian shepherd, an accident that saw the tearful Frenchman withdraw from the gruelling event.
But on Tuesday, a convoy leading Baud’s car back to Buenos Aires was hit by a goods lorry in an accident also involving four other vehicles, the Cadena 3 television station reported.
An Argentinian car driver was reported killed in the accident.
Today’s 10th stage is from Belen to La Rioja. Now to see whether al-Attiyah can claw back time today.

Overall Car standings after the 9th stage of Dakar 2016
Pos.        Driver/Co-Driver   Manufacturer Variation
1. Carlos Sainz (ESP)/ Lucas Cruz (ESP)   Peugeot        --
2. Stephane Peterhansel (FRA)/ Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA)   Peugeot    00:07:03
3. Nasser al-Attiyah (QAT) / Matthieu Baumel (FRA)   Mini    00:14:38
4. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) / Michel Perin (FRA)   Mini    00:34:50
5. Giniel De Villiers (ZAF) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU)   Toyota    00:53:18

Bike Overall Standings
1. Toby Price (AUS)    KTM
2. Stefan Svitko (SVK)    KTM
3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL) Husqvarna
4. Kevin Benavides (ARG) Honda
5. Antoine Meo(FRA)    KTM