PARIS, Jan 16 - Spanish motorcyclist Jordi Arcarons, second overall, was forced out of the Dakar rally on Thursday when he crashed after running over a dog during the 12th stage.
Arcarons hit the dog on his KTM near the start of the 585-km stage from Timbuktoo in Mali to Nema in Mauritania and was knocked out for several minutes.
He wanted to carry on but doctors dissuaded him.
``From the beginning of the rally I've been going to see friends in the medical tent and today I'm here,'' he said. ``I really didn't have much luck.''
Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel on a Yamaha now looks even more certain of his fifth Dakar victory.
Peterhansel won the stage with ease and is more than two and a half hours ahead of another Spaniard, Oscar Gallardo.
The Mitsubishis continued to dominate in the cars section with Frenchman Jean-Pierre Fontenay recording another stage victory.
He trails Japanese leader Kenjiro Shinozuka by 23 seconds overall.
The race between the two leading Mitsubishi drivers promises to be tight all the way to the finish in Dakar on Sunday.
