Three days are behind us, and the competitors had the chance to get into their rhythm. Slowly everybody's riding in the position where they should be riding. Until now the stages were fast and technically not so difficult. The big 690's were the ones to profit most of the fast stretches, the lighter 450's haven't been in the picture that much, although Frenchmen Fretigne is doing very well with a second place overall on a Yamaha 450. Also today, 350 km. out of the 550 km long special could be ridden with the throttle full open.

Click here for full story... (http://www.topix.net/motorcycles/2009/01/dakar-2009-the-serious-stuff-is-about-to-begin?fromrss=1)