2010 Dakar Rally Stage Nine: Al-Attiyah Reels In Sainz In VW Battle

Fog was the first problem that the 211 remaining entrants in the Dakar Rally had to face on the ninth stage. However, luckily (or unfortunately depending on your appetite for chaos) the organisers stepped in shortening the stage to only 170km from its original 338. That left the bikes, cars, quads and trucks facing a sprint almost entirely though sand dunes, the two-wheeled racers starting 10 or 20 at a time as they headed out into the desert.   The short stage and the mass start saw a predictably close race for the bikes, with Dutchman Frans Verhoeven (who actually started in the second wave) leading after the short dash to 30km, the fastest 11 riders covered by less than a minute.   But the unforgiving dunes and the tight racing meant e...

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