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Peterhansel holds Dakar lead again

Peterhansel leads Luc Alphand by just 32 seconds after eight stages

PARIS, France -- Holder Stephane Peterhansel retained the overall lead in the Dakar Rally after a tricky drive through the Mauritania sand dunes.

Peterhansel came third in the eighth stage, a 508km run from Atar to Nouakchott, to take over from compatriot and Mitsubishi team mate Luc Alphand at the top of the standings.

The stage was won by another Frenchman, Thierry Magnaldi, in a Ford-powered Schlesser buggy ahead of American Mark Miller in a Volkswagen.

The battle between the two Frenchmen promises to be tight before the race ends in Senegal on Janary 15. Alphand, the former skiing World Cup champion, is just 32 seconds back in second position.

The day ruined the hopes of twice world rally champion Carlos Sainz of Spain who needed mechanical assistance after damaging his Volkswagen Touareg prototype on a rock.

Sainz, who started the stage fifth overall, is making his Dakar debut and had won three of the first four stages.

Time penalty

In the motorcycle section, KTM riders filled the top six places, Frenchman David Casteu winning the stage ahead of American Chris Blais.

Spaniard Marc Coma, who came fifth, retains the overall lead.

On Sunday's rest day Chile's Carlo de Gavardo was with a one-hour penalty for three recorded cases of excessive speeding during the eighth stage.

The penalty saw the KTM rider, winner of the sixth and seventh stages on Thursday and Friday, fall from third to fifth position in the overall standings, 1hr 11min 49sec behind the leader Coma.

Some 148 motorcyclists incurred penalties, mostly of two hours for missing regulation time controls, including Australian Andy Caldecott, who won the third stage, Brazil's Jean De Azevedo and Frenchman David Fretigne, lying in 6th, 9th and 12th places respectively.

The race resumes on Monday with an 874km stretch through Mauritania from the capital Nouakchott to Kiffa.

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