Dakar: Alphand closes in on victory

The French former skiing champion finished the 348 km special from Labe in Guinea to Tambacounda in Senegal less than a minute in front of Volkswagen's Carlos Sainz and over one a half minutes ahead of main rival Giniel de Villiers in another Volkswagen.

The German company's Bruno Saby and Mitsubishi's Nani Roma completed the top five in today's special.

Alphand took the lead of the event on Thursday after teammate and seven-time champion Stephane Peterhansel hit a tree and lost over three hours.

Peterhansel's mechanics endured a long night of work to fix the heavy damages on the Pajero so that the Frenchman, fourth overall, could continue in the event. Peterhansel was seventh in today's stage and keeps his fourth place, albeit over three hours behind the leader.

Alphand leads de Villiers by 22 minutes, with Roma in third place over 1.5 hours behind.

The Dakar was again in mourning today following the death of a kid. The boy, who had come with his parents to watch the rally pass just outside the Guinean village of Kourahoye, was hit by one of the competing cars as he crossed the road.

He was the second victim of this year's event after Australian ride Andy Caldecott died in a crash during the ninth stage.

Tomorrow's stage from Tambacounda to Dakar is the final proper special of the rally, covering 634 km with a 254 of those timed.

The gruelling race across seven countries and covering more than 9,000 kms ends on Sunday in the Senegal capital with a 31-km run.

Full results will be added shorty.