Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won the third stage of the Dakar Rally on Monday by edging former world rally champion Carlos Sainz of Spain, who still leads the overall ranking. Al Attiyah, who also won the rally's first stage, finished the 551-kilometer ride in 4 hours, 29 minutes, 27 seconds in his BMW across the Patagonian steppe from Puerto Madryn to Ingeniero Jacobacci in Argentina. Sainz was 35 seconds behind, while his Volkswagen teammate Dieter Depping of Germany was third, 1:40 back. Sainz won the second stage and is 3:40 ahead of Al Attiyah after three legs, and 5:45 ahead of Giniel de Villiers of South Africa. The rally is being held in South America for the first time after being canceled in 2008 because of the threat of terrorist attacks along its traditional route through Africa. A persistent drought has turned massive swaths of Argentina's soil to dust, forcing drivers to navigate through clouds of brown dirt. Mitsubishi's Luc Alphand - champion in 2006 - suffered technical problems to lose ground on the leading group as he suffered a petrol leak which cost him over half-an-hour. Spain's Marc Coma won the motorbike stage in 5:18:17. Pal Anders Ullevalseter of Norway and Jordi Viladoms of Spain tied for second place, 17:49 behind Coma. Coma also won Saturday's opening stage and is now 39:11 head of France's David Fretigne. Cyril Despres is languishing in 33rd spot after a dreadful start and the Frenchman now trails Coma by more than an hour and a half. He had problems with his tires on Monday and it was exacerbated further as he feared he had a hernia, so went only 60km an hour for the final few kilometers. English driver Paul Green remains in serious condition in a local hospital after flipping his Rally Raid UK truck Saturday during the first stage. The 2009 edition of the gruelling race has been switched this year from Africa to Argentina and Chile because of security fears. It features 540 competitors from 50 countries and covers 9,000 kilometres spread over 13 stages - three in Chile and 10 in Argentina - with the finish scheduled for Buenos Aires on January 18. The 2008 Dakar, which was to have started in Lisbon before heading to Africa, was canceled the day before the scheduled start because of specific terrorist threats made againt the event. It was the first cancellation in the history of the race since its inception in 1979 due to security concerns after four French tourists were murdered in Mauritania. Tuesday's route is a 459-kilometer (285-mile) drive from Ingeniero Jacobacci to Neuquen.
