Sainz fights back to trim Al-Attiyah lead in stage 9
- Source: Global Times
- [10:00 January 13 2011]
- Comments
American biker Jonah Street wins the ninth stage. Photo: AFP
Carlos Sainz of Volkswagen won the ninth stage of the cars section Wednesday, a 235km special around Copiapo in northern Chile.
The defending champion's victory saw him close in on overall leader and teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah, who finished second, despite a puncture, ending a run of two successive stage wins.
Sainz, the defending champion, trimmed 1 minute 56 seconds off Al-Attiyah's lead to close the gap to 3 minutes 18 seconds.
"I am happy with my day, especially as we were not racing on my favoured terrain, the dunes, the off road track and the desert," said the 48-year-old, a two-time world rally champion.
Al-Attiyah said that he too was happy with his day and was relieved not to be starting out on the road first today which is the stage winner's honor.
"I am happy to have got through this day without a problem," said the 40-year-old Qatari, who finished second last year.
"By starting first one always loses time. Tomorrow I am going to follow Carlos, and stick to that strategy," added Al-Attiyah, who is also a notable shot and finished fourth in the skeet competition at the 2004 Olympics.
