Carlos' dream is over after accident; RALLYING.

SOUTH African Giniel De Villiers is the new leader of the Dakar Rally after he won the 12th special stage and Spaniard Carlos Sainz was forced to pull out following an accident.

De Villiers, who recorded his third stage triumph, brought his Volkswagen across the line in four hours, six minutes and 43 seconds, 16mins 37secs ahead of team-mate Mark Miller, who also moved into second overall.

American Robert Gordon (Hummer) was third on the stage, the same as his overall position.

The route from Fiambala to La Rioja was reduced by 30 kilometres, leaving today's special stage at 223km, as the organisers accepted the Argentinian authorities' request to shorten it because of the archaeological discoveries made a month ago in the Fiambala region of Catamarca province.

Two-time world rally champion Sainz, who was leading after six stage victories, had his dream of winning his first Dakar ended when, 79km into the stage, his Volkswagen crashed into a dry riverbed.

His co-driver, Frenchman Michel Perin, suffered a shoulder injury and both had to be evacuated to the Fiambala bivouac for medical attention. Perin said: "We had made a small mistake in the first part. We took the wrong direction at a Y crossing but it was not too bad because we did end up on the right trail.

"We were tailing Giniel De Villiers, who had started about 10 minutes after us, so it was still sort of okay. Then there was a hidden way-point with a wadi indicated as 'danger'.

"But it should have been indicated as 'extremely dangerous'. The car behind us, Nani Roma's car, would have fallen in the same hole as we did if we had not been there already. I'm okay, I just have something broken in my arm, but I'm all right."

In the motorbike class, title holder Cyril Despres (KTM) kept his hopes of winning his third crown alive after taking his third stage in a time of 3:57:37 to climb into second spot in the overall standings. The Frenchman said: "There was action. The bike overheated a little. I was a bit afraid of the sand dunes. It was tough because the sand was so soft. For a rallyraid biker, starting, passing two or three other bikers along the way and arriving after four hours of a special stage, it's a small pleasure."

However, Despres' Spanish team-mate Marc Coma did not make things easy for the Frenchman as he crossed the line 1mins 23secs behind him and remains out in front with a 1:29:48 advantage.

He said: "It was a real tough one, with a lot of off-road and navigation. It was hard to find ways to cross the dunes and the mountain. There was no way you could let your guard down during the whole special stage.

"But for me, it was another day without problems and that's important."

The car behind us would have fallen in the same hole as us if we'd not been there already