Al-Attiyah takes Dakar lead from Sainz
Source: Agencies |
January 12, 2011, Wednesday
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NASSER Al-Attiyah overtook Volkswagen teammate Carlos Sainz for the overall lead in the cars category of the Dakar Rally by winning the eighth leg on Monday.
The Qatari finished 6 minutes, 36 seconds ahead of Sainz to push him 5:14 ahead of the defending champion in the overall standings. Giniel de Villiers of South Africa was third in the stage, 17:22 behind, and 48:45 back to be third overall.
In bikes, Spain's Marc Coma won the stage and stretched his overall lead over Cyril Despres. Coma finished 1:55 ahead of Despres, the defending champion, and 4:21 ahead of Francisco Lopez Contardo of Chile. Coma leads his KTM teammate Despres in the overall by 9:19. Lopez Contardo is third, trailing by 22:48. The victory gave a giant boost to Al-Attiyah, who finished second last year to Sainz.
"I can control the race now," said Al-Attiyah, who said this stage was one of his favorites. "In the last section of dunes, we were pushing at a maximum because that was where we had to take the time from Sainz. I'm quite happy to win the stage, quite happy.
"It was a difficult stage because I was opening all the way, but the dunes are my favorite terrain and I was really pushing to the limit."
Barring a major accident, cars and bikes are now just two-man races.
The Qatari finished 6 minutes, 36 seconds ahead of Sainz to push him 5:14 ahead of the defending champion in the overall standings. Giniel de Villiers of South Africa was third in the stage, 17:22 behind, and 48:45 back to be third overall.
In bikes, Spain's Marc Coma won the stage and stretched his overall lead over Cyril Despres. Coma finished 1:55 ahead of Despres, the defending champion, and 4:21 ahead of Francisco Lopez Contardo of Chile. Coma leads his KTM teammate Despres in the overall by 9:19. Lopez Contardo is third, trailing by 22:48. The victory gave a giant boost to Al-Attiyah, who finished second last year to Sainz.
"I can control the race now," said Al-Attiyah, who said this stage was one of his favorites. "In the last section of dunes, we were pushing at a maximum because that was where we had to take the time from Sainz. I'm quite happy to win the stage, quite happy.
"It was a difficult stage because I was opening all the way, but the dunes are my favorite terrain and I was really pushing to the limit."
Barring a major accident, cars and bikes are now just two-man races.
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