Luc Alphand, winner of the Dakar Rally back in 2006 and leader of his own Luc Alphand Aventures sportscar team, has been seriously injured during an accident in France.
Luc Alphand's rollercoaster of a Dakar Rally took one final plunge downhill on stage six, as his recovery towards the top five was halted by the loss of co-driver Gilles Picard.
The leader's curse affecting this year's Dakar rally struck again overnight with confirmation that BMW X-Raid's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah had been thrown out of the event for missing a series of hidden waypoints on stage six of the two-week event.
Robby Gordon kept the #309 Monster Energy Toyo Tires Hummer inside the overall top ten on the 2009 Dakar Rally despite rolling the machine into a ditch during the fourth leg of the event on Tuesday.
Luc Alphand led the way for Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart as he attempted make up for lost time on the fourth leg of the 2009 Dakar Rally between Ingeniero Jacobacci and Neuqu?n in western Patagonia.
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and its motor sport unit, the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team has confirmed that it will once again field a four-car line-up on the 31st Dakar Rally.