Coma wins Dakar third stage
ER RACHIDIA, Morocco: Spanish competitors had a great day in the Dakar Rally on Monday with Carlos Sainz and Isidre Esteve Pujol taking the overall lead in the car and motorbike standings.
Reigning motorbike champion Marc Coma of Spain won the 252km third stage between Nador and Rachidia in Morocco, in front of American Chris Blais and Pujol, while in the car section, South Africa's Giniel De Villiers won to push Sainz and Stephane Peterhansel of France into the minor placings.
Coma, who had started the race in Portugal cautiously, made his intentions clear once the race arrived on African soil, and he remains a strong contender to gain back-to-back titles.
It was a frustrating day however for the 2005 motorbike champion, Cyril Despres of France, who lost more than 20 minutes after the gearbox of his KTM broke.
Fortune had swung the other way for Blais who had lost more than 11 minutes on Sunday because of an oil problem.
On Monday he made the most of a late start to give himself a chance of a stage victory, overtaking about 40 competitors and clocking the best time at the 113km first timing point though he lost time from then on in the fastest section to finish less than a minute behind Coma.
In the car event, there was a real cat-and-mouse battle between De Villiers and fellow VW driver Sainz, who had won the preceding stage in Portugal, though De Villiers edged the victory by 25sec and by 3min 18sec in front of Peterhansel's Mitsubishi. France's reigning champion Luc Alphand was fourth at 3:42 and finally moved into the top 10, in eighth spot.
The competitors will be in for a long day Tuesday with the 679km fourth stage between Er Rachidia and Ouarzazate, which has a 405km timed-section.
AFP
(China Daily 01/10/2007 page24)
