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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Former world rally champion Carlos Sainz of Spain negotiated blinding dust and a collision with a motorcycle entrant to win the second stage of the Dakar Rally on Sunday for the overall race lead.

Volkswagen driver Sainz beat Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel to claim his 10th Dakar stage win when he finished the dusty 237-kilometre stage from Santa Rosa de la Pampa to Puerto Madryn in Argentina in one hour 56 minutes 14 seconds.

"It was a very difficult stage with all the dust and the bikes. At times, we nearly had to stop," Sainz said. "I even hit a biker at one point. I hope he's going to be OK."

Mitsubishi's Peterhansel was 1:14 seconds behind, while Sainz' Volkswagen teammate Giniel de Villiers of South Africa was third, 1:56 back. Sainz leads de Villiers by 2.19 after the first two stages and is 3:51 ahead of Peterhansel.

"The start of the special was very quick, but as soon as we arrived in the off-track part, it was not very easy to navigate and we got a little bit lost," de Villiers said. "We must have lost a minute or two. Then in the last section . . . it was very difficult to get past the bikers. But I tried to be cautious and avoid any mishaps. We didn't do too badly."

Dutchman Frans Verhoeven won the motorcycle stage in 2:14:48, just 41 seconds ahead of fellow KTM rider Cyril Despres of France. Frenchman David Fretigne was third on a Yamaha, 1:04 off the lead.

Vancouver Island's Donald Hatton was 172nd overall in the motorcycle division.

Marc Coma of Spain, who won Saturday's opening stage, retained the overall lead despite finishing 17th Sunday. He holds a 13:47 lead over Verhoeven and is 16:51 ahead of Fretigne.

"I had a problem with the radiator. I noticed after 104 kilometres that I had an oil leak." Coma said. "... I decided to stop at the first place I came across where there were people to see of I could find a solution. That was at the 108-kilometre mark. Someone from the crowd brought me an oilcan. I was able to put it to good use, but I had to stop regularly".

English driver Paul Green remains in serious condition in a local hospital after flipping his Rally Raid UK truck Saturday during the first stage.

Starting from Buenos Aires on Friday, the 30th Dakar Rally - and the first outside Africa - features 177 cars, 217 motorcycles, 81 trucks and 25 quad bikes with drivers from 49 countries.

After 14 stages and 9,574 kilometres it will finish Jan. 18 back in Buenos Aires.

The 2008 race was cancelled because of the possibility of terrorist attacks in Mauritania.