Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah kept his hopes alive of winning the car section in the Dakar Rally as he won the ninth stage on Monday, the 170-kilometer special from Copiapo.

Spanish cyclist Marc Coma won his third stage of the rally which may prove little consolation after he was penalized six hours at the weekend ,which put him out of contention for the overall title.

Al-Attiyah's victory saw him close in on overall leader, Volkswagen team-mate Carlos Sainz, who was second, and holds a fragile lead of just 8 min 36 sec over the Qatari.

Al-Attiyah, who just missed out on an Olympic bronze medal in the 2004 Games when he finished fourth in the skeet shooting competition, was relieved to have gained what he saw as an invaluable win which gives him a real opportunity to snatch overall victory from Sainz.

"After Sunday's stage I said I must take six minutes off Carlos' lead because if he gained time on me on Monday then the team might start giving orders and I don't need team orders," said 39-year-old Al-Attiyah.

"Now victory is possible. The fight continues. I'm here to win the race and will try my best."

Another Volkswagen driver, Giniel de Villers of South Africa, last year's winner, was third though he is out of contention to retain his title while another teammate American Mark Miller stayed third overall after finishing fifth.

Coma, who was penalized the six hours for an illegal tire change, edged out France's Cyril Despres, who remained the overall leader.

The Spaniard - who vainly protested his innocence over the charge - sounded like he couldn't wait for the race to be over, having contemplated pulling out altogether when he was penalized.

"In the end, it was a good result for me," he said. "That's one more day of the rally gone and one day nearer the finish."

Jiang hits form

China's Jiang Yaohuan, driving a Chery Rely X5, continued his fine form, finishing the ninth stage 2:24:56 in 19th place. Jiang was also 19th in Sunday's 568km eighth stage.

In the overall standings, Jiang moved up two places to 34th.

Jiang's teammate and China's sixth-time Dakar Rally veteran, Lu Ningjun, hit some troubles on Monday and finished 6:7:54. Lu, also driving a Chery Rely X5, slipped two places in the overall standings to 29th.

Zhou Yong, who finished 19th in the 2005 Dakar Rally, the best ever by a Chinese driver, remained steady, completing the stage in 29th place and moving up one place in the overall standings to 41st.

Another Chinese Zhu Jinzhong was 59th on Monday and 50th overall.