Dakar 2009 - Stage 7 - Mendoza - Valparaiso

Summary of stage 7 - Cars

Pending validation of the

 results by the race stewards, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW) has won the 7th stage, picking up his 3rd stage victory of this 31st Dakar, 3.41 ahead of his American team-mate Mark

 Miller (VW) and 4.13 in front of American Robby Gordon and his Hummer. As a result, in the general standings "El Matador" Sainz has taken

 the lead, 9 short seconds ahead of his South African team-mate Giniel De Villiers and 13.53 in front of the Race Touareg belonging to Miller, putting the 3 Volkswagens in the first 3

 places! Worthy of note, the 9 times winner of the event Stéphane

 Peterhansel again suffered problems today. After a fire in the engine of his Mitsubishi Racing Lancer, the Frenchman has now lost

 all chance of grabbing a 10th victory on his 20th Dakar. In the Open category, Robby Gordon (Hummer) was again victorious and is the

 undisputed category leader in the general standings. Finally, in the Production category, Japanese driver Jun Mitsuhashi (Toyota) won the

 stage, but still only managed to claw back 10.20 on Frenchman Nicolas Gibon (Toyota) who retains a solid lead in the category in the general standings.

Summary of stage 7 - Bikes

Pending validation of the results by the race stewards, Chilean Francisco Lopez (KTM) has won the 7th stage, picking up his 1st success on the Dakar, 3.57 ahead of the leader of the general standings, Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM) and 5.21 in front of France’s Cyril Despres (KTM). As a result, in the general standings Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM) carries on opening up a gap at the top of the rankings, with a 51.22 lead over American Jonah Street (KTM), still leader in the marathon category, and a 52.31 lead over Frenchman David Frétigné (Yamaha), leader of the 450cc category.

Summary of stage 7  - Quads

Pending validation of the results by the race stewards, Argentine Marcos Patronelli (Can Am) has won the 7th stage, picking up his 1st success on the Dakar, 14.01 ahead of Uruguayan Luis Henderson (Suzuki) and 20.22 in front of Poland’s Rafal Sonik (Yamaha). As a result, in the general standings Czech rider Josef Machacek (Yamaha) is way out in the lead, 2:27.32 ahead of Patronelli and 2:38.27 in front of Polish rider Sonik.