Yamaha rider Rod Faggotter remains top Australian at Dakar.

He’d been waiting for a great day ever since the race started in Lima, and today was it! After starting the longest stage of the rally in 11th place, 24:26 behind the overall leader, Cyril Despres delivered a virtuoso performance throughout the ninth stage, one which was raced on fast trails which put tyres and brakes to the test.

The Frenchman went on the attack at the beginning, dosed his effort to preserve his tyres in the second part and then stepped it up again in the finale, grabbing his first win in the 35th edition, which is also his 31st career win over his closest rival, Joan Barreda.

Despite an early fall, Husqvarna’s Spaniard was the only rider who came close to challenging the Frenchman and finished second ahead of teammate Botturi.

He wasn’t the only one to fall. The overall leader in Tucumán, David Casteu, crashed into a cow when tackling a turn 120 kilometres into the special. He set off with a dislocated shoulder, a leaky tank and the beginning of a nightmare stage for the man from Southern France, as he had to stop yet again 15km before the end of the stage and saw all hopes of salvaging something in the overall go up in smoke.

Olivier Pain’s performance won’t fill the brand with the tuning forks with glee either. The second-in-command of the Bleus also hit the deck several times today, slipping to sixth overall. It wasn’t a good day for Chaleco López either, as he also took a tumble and lost over 16 minutes to Despres.

This crazy stage turned the overall on its head, with Cyril Despres’ water carrier, Portuguese Ruben Faria, taking the lead 5:23 ahead of his leader. Behind them, Chile’s Chaleco López is still in third place, 9:06 down after a successful damage limitation exercise.

Of the Aussies, Rod Faggotter is leading the charge in a solid 16th, Ben Grabham 18th, Warren Strange 31st, Todd Smith 42nd, Simon Pavey 66th and Matt Fish is currently in 121st.

Click here for detailed results