Spaniard Carlos Sainz was first in the car section as Portugal's Helder Rodrigues took motorbike honours in the second stage of the 2007 Dakar Rally on Sunday.

Sainz, 42, brought his Volkswagen home in 59min 26sec after the 67km timed section ahead of the four Mitsubishi cars headed by former champion French skier Luc Alphand, who was 29 seconds behind.

Portugal's Carlos Sousa, who won Saturday's opening stage, retained the overall lead in his Volkswagen with a 45-second advantage on Sainz, who moved into second position.

"At places, the wheels were spinning a lot and the road was narrow. I enjoyed the Portuguese stages more than last year and we are happy with our results. The car is competitive and we managed these two days in Portugal quite well."

In the motorbike section, Rodrigues, riding a Yamaha, timed 1 hour 02 minutes 44 seconds, to finish 1min 03secs ahead of another compatriot and winner of Saturday's first stage Ruben Faria with Spain's Isidre Esteve Pujol a further 42secs back.

"It was a magnificent special stage today, I didn't have the slightest problem," said Rodrigues.

"In my own mind, I knew I had to attack early to get a stage win, but really thought yesterday was my chance, but this is great.

"Now we go to Africa, and there, I just have to see what I can do."

Rodrigues also grabbed the overall lead as the rally moves to northern Africa on Monday from Malaga in southern Spain where the second stage finishes later on Sunday.

China's Liu Bin, making his Dakar debut in a Mitsubishi, finished 54rd in 1hr 11min 23sec, improving his overall ranking nine spots to No 54.

Lu Ningjun of China Triangle Tire Team, who is competing in the Dakar Rally for the fourth consecutive time, was 70th in a time of 1hr 12min 54sec and ranked 94th overall.

"The first two stages are just warm-ups for us," said Lu. "We will be heading into Africa on Tuesday, there will be a lot of challenges there."

Lu, 48, first took part in the 2004 Dakar Rally and completed the race the following year. He failed to finish the race in 2006.

"I try to keep myself calm as there are thousands of miles to go," he said. "Based on my experience, we will be able to climb up smoothly in Africa as long as we are in the race."

Competitors will transfer by ferry to Morocco for the 648km third stage between Nador and El Rachidia, which includes a 252km timed special through the desert.

(China Daily via AFP January 9, 2007)