Former ski champion Luc Alphand of France won the auto section on the 361 kilometre ninth stage of the Dakar-2005 rally. 

Driving a Mitsubishi, he completed the stage in 4 hours 52 minutes 59 seconds to finish 1min 31sec clear of team-mate Stephane Peterhansel and Germany's Jutta Kleinschmidt in a Volkswagen who came in 19min 13sec off the pace.

Peterhansel kept a grip on the overall lead in the race 20min 01sec ahead of Alphand and 40mins 26sec clear of Kleinschmidt.

The moto section of the ninth stage went to Spain's Esteve Pujol riding a KTM.

Pujol timed 5hrs 14 min 10 sec coming in ahead of Italian Fabrizio Meoni, who finished second.

(Photo Source: AFP)

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