Alphand and Coma close in on victory

Former Alpine skier Luc Alphand was on course for his first overall victory in the Dakar rally although the Frenchman finished eighth on the penultimate stage after taking a wrong track yesterday.

Spaniard Marc Coma maintained his lead in the motorcycle section. He was runner-up on the 634-km stage, which included a 254-km section through Senegal from Tambacounda to Dakar, 33 seconds behind David Fretigne.

French BMW driver Guerlain Chicherit beat team-mate Alfie Cox of South Africa by three minutes and 13 seconds in the car competition. Mark Miller, of the United States, was third at 5:07, driving a Volkswagen.

Alphand, in a Mitsubishi, led Volkswagen rival Giniel De Villiers by 17:53 in the overall standings. South African De Villiers also made a navigation mistake during the leg and was fifth on the line but only gained four minutes and 20 seconds on Alphand, the 1997 overall skiing World Cup champion.

The race, which covers more than 9,000 km across seven countries ends with a celebration 31-km timed stage around Lac Rose today.

Second boy killed

A boy was killed in Senegal yesterday after being hit by a support vehicle during the 14th stage of the Dakar Rally, a day after another child died in a similar accident, race organisers said.

The boy, the third casualty of this year's rally, was hit by a truck. Australian motorcyclist Andy Caldecott died in a crash during the ninth stage of the rally on Monday.