Jonah Street has gained some ground in the fight for the 2009 Dakar Rally after leader Marc Coma lost 15 minutes with a puncture on stage five.

Coma entered the Neuquen – San Rafael stage with a 43 minute lead over Street, but that has been reduced to 27 minutes after a puncture at 60km forced him to stop and repair it.

Considered a chance for Cyril Depres to make up some time on his rival, the Frenchman's rally continued to go from bad to worse when he too suffered and a puncture. He had been quick through the splits but lost an almost identical amount to time as Coma, leaving him down in tenth overall.

The stage instead belonged to American rider Street, almost six minutes quicker than Frans Verhoeven and Francisco Lopez.

In the overall standings, Coma leads Street, with Yamaha's David Fretigne holding onto third place, while Pal anders Ullevalseter jumps to fourth at the expense of Jordi Viladoms, who drops to fifth. Helder Rodrigues rounds out the top six.


Argentina-Chile Dakar 2009 - Positions on SS5:

1. Jonah Street KTM 6hrs 41m 06s
2. Frans Verhoeven KTM +0hrs 05m 53s
3. Francisco Lopez KTM +0hrs 07m 34s
4. David Casteu KTM +0hrs 09m 36s
5. Helder Rodrigues KTM +0hrs 10m 35s
6. David Fretigne Yamaha +0hrs 11m 12s

Argentina-Chile Dakar 2009 - Positions on SS5:

1. Marc Coma KTM 21hrs 38m 12s
2. Jonah Street KTM +0hrs 27m 12s
3. Davide Fretigne Yamaha +0hrs 39m 09s
4. Pal anders Ullevalseter KTM +0hrs 57m 22s
5. Jordi Viladoms KTM +1hrs 06m 42s
6. Helder Rodrigues KTM +1hrs 17m 54s