Gordon moves to ninth after Stage 3 of Dakar

JACOBACCI, Argentina -- Nasser Al Attiyah of Qatar beat Spanish driver and former world rally champion Carlos Sainz by 35 seconds to win Stage 3 of the Dakar Rally on Monday. Sainz now holds the overall lead by 3 minutes, 40 seconds over Al Attiyah. The third stage was 551 kilometers, from Puerto Madryn to Jacobacci.

Sprint Cup driver Robby Gordon finished 10th and moved up to ninth overall, 34 minutes, 32 seconds behind.

Robby Gordon

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Al Attiyah won Saturday's opening stage before Sainz won Sunday's stage. On Monday, German Dieter Depping finished third, 1 minute, 40 seconds behind.

Stage 4 on Tuesday will be from Jacobacci to Neuquen, a distance of 459 kilometers.

The 2009 Dakar Rally was 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 over 13 stages -- three in Chile and 10 in Argentina -- with the finish scheduled for Jan. 18 in Buenos Aires.

The 2008 Dakar, which was to have started in Lisbon before heading to Africa, was cancelled the day before the scheduled start because of specific terrorist threats made against 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.

The Dakar Rally is being broadcast on Versus, with daily updates on RobbyGordon.com.

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• Gordon rallies into 10th after second stage of Dakar