193 vehicles made it through the special stageAt 18h30 GMT, 121 bikes, 57 cars and 15 trucks had made it through the ninth special stage and were heading to or had already arrived at the bivouac in Nema, the finishing point of this ninth stage.

Truck

Stage 9 summaryDutchman Wulfert Van Ginkel (Ginaf) won first-placed scratch time in the ninth special with a time of 6h47’47, 12’28 ahead of his compatriot Hans Stacey (Man) and 13’20 ahead of Czech driver Alès Loprais (Tatra). Dutchman Hans Stacey (Man) is now easy on top of the overall rankings with 3h07’11 lead over Russia’s Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz).

Car

Stage 9 summaryFrenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser (Buggy Schlesser) won first-placed scratch time in 4h00’46, and got his 15th stage victory in the Dakar, also winning at the same time this ninth special stage in the two-wheel drive category, 13" ahead of his countryman Luc Alphand (Mitsu). Ranking 3rd in today’s special stage at 4’14 is Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsu) who benefited from the mechanical ordeal of Volkswagen in this stage and became first in the overall rankings where he now has a 7’50 lead over his teammate Alphand. In the open category, US driver Robby Gordon (Hummer) wins with the 11th-placed scratch time. Finally, in the production category, Frenchman Ronan Chabot (Toyota) is the day’s winner.

Bike

Stage 9 summaryLatvian Janis Vinters (KTM) got his first stage victory in the Dakar in 6h08’51, for scratch time and in the marathon category, 7’31 ahead of Frenchman Français Cyril Despres (KTM) and 7’53 in front of Marc Coma (KTM). The Spaniard logically stays in the lead of the overall rankings, 54’36 in front of Despres. In the 450cc category, Portuguese Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) won the stage and on the quad side, Czech pilot Josef Machacek (Yamaha) was the winner of the day

Truck

Van Ginkel provisional winner of the stageNr 513, VAN GINKEL/TIJSTERMAN/DE ROOY - GINAF As the first 5 trucks have now reached the finishing line of this ninth special stage, Dutchman Wulfert Van Ginkel is – pending validation – the provisional winner of his first stage in the Dakar, 12’28 ahead of overall rankings leader, Dutchman Hans Stacey, and 13’20 in front of Czech driver Ales Loprais.