Sainz loses lead as Terry's death overshadows rally

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Spain's Carlos Sainz lost the lead in the Dakar rally after running into trouble in sand dunes on a day when the controversial race was overshadowed by the death of French motorcycle rider Pascal Terry.

Organisers said in a statement that Terry's body had been found in the early hours of Wednesday morning around 100 metres off the road and 190 kilometres south of Santa Rosa, where he had gone missing during Sunday's second stage.

Local police said they were investigating the fatality, the 26th involving a competitor in the race's 30-year history.

This year's race, which started in Buenos Aires last week, has also left British driver Paul Green and his navigator Matthew Harrison in serious condition in hospital after their car overturned during Saturday's first stage.

On Wednesday, a hospital spokesman told reporters that Green was taken off a breathing apparatus after his condition improved while Harrison remained stable and was still on artificial breathing.

Sainz, who began Wednesday's fifth stage from Neuquen to San Rafael with a lead of 3.49 minutes over Qatar's Nasser Al Attiyah in the car race, ran into trouble in the dunes.

He eventually limped home in ninth place in six hours 3.25 minutes while South Africa's Giniel De Villiers won the stage in 5:47.43, followed by Germany's Dieter Depping.

Al Attiyah's fourth place was enough to give him the overall lead while De Villiers' win moved him up to second in the overall standings and Sainz dropped to third.

"I drove 200km without power steering," said Sainz. "Driving in these conditions is pretty hard. And when the dunes started, it was even harder and I ended up rolling over."