Dec 31, 2005, 18:16 GMT
Lisbon - First-time Paris-Dakar participant Carlos Sainz on Saturday won the opening special stage of this year's rally when he took the 83 kilometre stage in Lisbon.
Sainz, driving a Volkswagen Touarag and having entered the rally - which this year is called the Lisbon-Dakar rally as it did not start in Paris - for the first time, edged out local favourite Carlos Sousa.
The Spaniard finished with a time of 56 minutes 20 seconds - one minute 30 seconds ahead of Sousa in a Nissan Pickup, while VW's Bruno Saby was third, ahead of team-mate Jutta Kleinschmidt. VW had two other drivers in the top ten, with Giniel De Villiers finishing eighth, while Mark Miller was 10th.
Favourite Stephane Peterhansel in a Mitsubishi, who won the last two races, had to change a tyre and finished nearly four minutes behind the winner and had to settle for 12th place.
The fastest time for the short stage on a motorbike belonged to last year's bike champion, Cyril Despres, who covered the distance on his KTM in 58 minutes 10 seconds.
Private entry Ruben Faria on a KTM had the second fastest time, clocking in just four seconds behind, while Marc Coma, who was also on a KTM, finished third.
The rally has attracted a record field of 712 entries, including 174 cars and 232 motorbikes. The rally ends in Dakar after 15 stages and more than 9,000 kilometres on January 15. dpa adh
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