Dakar Rally Stage 9: Sainz moves to the top as Loeb suffers Further setback

Carlos Sainz has taken the lead in the general standings of Dakar Rally 2016 over Sebastian Loeb who faced a troublesome Tuesday after previous day's crash

Cars: Carlos Sainz, a former Dakar 2010 champion overtook the French driver Sebastian Loeb, after a commendable drive on Stage 9 of the 2016 Dakar Rally around Belen, Argentina.

Sainz checked in at the stage 9 finish line with a 10 second lead over the Mini drivers Eric van Loon from the Netherlands who came in 2nd and the Finn, Mikko Hirvonen who checked in 3rd. Sainz completed the stage in two hours, 35.32 mins which gave the Spanish driver the overall lead after both his team mates suffered problems in the stage.

Stephane Peterhansel found himself beached in the sand and also suffered punctures to finish 7 minutes behind Sainz. While the Peugeot Total Team mechanics who worked over night the get Loeb's car to the starting point in the morning after his Stage 8 crash the previous day, the Frenchman again suffered  with problems and slipped to 13th in the rankings on his Dakar debut.

Bikes: The Australian KTM rider, Toby Price finished the stage in the lead to confirm his position the in the top spot in the category standings. Price won with a 7 minute margin over his team mate Stefan Sviko who finished the stage 3rd behind the Argentinian rider Benavidez.

Quads: The Patronelli brothers after a terrific Stage 8, fell behind to finish 2nd and 3rd with the Argentinian rider Copetti finishing 1st in category.

Trucks: De Rooy finished Stage 9 of the rally ahead of fellow Dutchman, Van Genugten and the Russian driver Karginov in 3rd in the Trucks category of the rally.

Also Read: Dakar Rally: Al-Attiyah, Price, Patronelli share wins, Loeb crashes on stage 8