De Villiers leads rally after Sainz crashes out

LA RIOJA, Argentina: Race leader Carlos Sainz crashed out of the Dakar Rally on Thursday when his Volkswagen tumbled into a ravine and rolled over, robbing the double world rally champion of victory.

The Spaniard had started the 12th stage with a 27-minute lead over his American Volkswagen teammate Mark Miller and was comfortably on course for a maiden win in the gruelling event on Saturday.

But that was before disaster struck after 79km of the 220km stage.