Second death hits Dakar Rally
French motorbike rider Eric Aubijoux became the second fatality of this year's Dakar Rally during the 14th stage between Tambacounda and here when he died from a suspected heart attack.
South African motorcyclist Elmer Symons died earlier in the race.
A race spokesman said that 42-year-old Aubijoux died after stopping during the stage.
A statement added: "At 15km from the end of the stage, he came to a stop on his motorbike after feeling unwell. Victim of a cardiac arrest, he couldn't be revived.
"He was a motorcross fanatic who was participating in his sixth Dakar rally in which he had finished in 16th place in 2001."
The Dakar rally has been mired in controversy since its inception as the Paris to Dakar rally in 1979 with a regular black list of competitors killed during the race, especially motorcyclists.
Last year, Australian motorcyclist Andy Caldecott was killed when he crashed on the ninth stage, with two similar deaths to Spaniard Jose Manuel Perez and Italian Fabrizio Meoni marring the previous year's race.
Symons was the 48th death associated with the rally.
The race has also been slammed for cutting a swathe through desert areas and villages and endangering local lives. Two boys were hit and killed by vehicles last year provoking another outcry that the Dakar shoukd be scrapped.
In the race itself, which finishes here on Sunday, Spain's former world rally champion Carlos Sainz, driving a Volkswagen, won the 576km penultimate stage from Tambacounda.
Sainz claimed his fifth stage this year and finished ahead of team-mates Giniel De Villiers of South Africa and Carlos Sousa of Portugal.
Brazilian Jean De Azevedo, riding a KTM, won the motorcycle section.
Stephane Peterhansel, in a Mitsubishi, retained his place at the top of the overall car standings but lost almost four minutes to countryman and teammate Luc Alphand.
"This was a very stressful stage because we only had an 11-minute lead and I knew they could be lost easily," said Peterhansel.
"Last year, I had lost quite a bit of time on this one-before-last stage so I was very careful. Its very tricky to find the right pace. Fortunately everything went well this time."
Reigning champion Alphand, the former world champion skier, now sits 7min 16sec behind Peterhansel, one of the Dakar Rally's most successful ever racers.
The six-time bikes winner and car champion in 2004 and 2005, Peterhansel still looks certain to claim a 10th Dakar title with just 16km of timed rallying around Dakar to come on Sunday's 93km final stage.
In the bikes, overall leader Cyril Despres of France finished fifth, increasing his lead to more than 36 minutes over his closest rival, team-mate David Casteu.
Casteu lost three minutes to Despres on the stage and has almost no chance of denying his countryman a second title in three years.
De Azevedo claimed a bit of glory on the day, finishing more than five minutes clear of Latvian Janis Vinters.
However, sitting 10 hours off the pace due to earlier mechanical troubles, the 32-year-old had the luxury of going flat out for victory with nothing to lose.
AFP
