Al-Attiyah eats into Sainz's lead

Nasser Al-Attiyah dominated the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally to take a big chunk out of Carlos Sainz's overall lead.

The Qatari driver set the fastest time at all checkpoints along the 338-kilometre stage between Copiapo and La Serena to beat the rest of the field by over six minutes and claim the sixth Dakar stage win of his career.

The 39-year-old led home a Volkswagen 1-2-3, with team-mate Sainz the next man home. The Spaniard's overall lead of the event is now down to 8mins 36secs.

South Africa's Giniel de Villiers was third with Guerlain Chicherit the first BMW home in fourth.

America's Mark Miller is third overall in another Volkswagen with Stephane Peterhansel fourth.

France's Cyril Despres continues to march towards success in the bike class, despite being beaten by four seconds by Marc Coma today. The KTM rider holds a huge lead of 1hr 21mins 50secs.

Vladimir Chagin secured yet another stage win in the truck category as he further extended his advantage in the standings.

Argentina's Patronelli brothers continue to be head and shoulders above the opposition in the quad class with Marcos leading Alejandro by over two hours. They missed out on today's stage victory, though, as Christophe Declerck of France led the field home.