BEIJING, Jan. 8 -- French motorcyclist Pascal Terry was found dead on the route of the Dakar rally, organizers said yesterday.

    Terry, 49, had been missing since Sunday's second stage.

    

French motorcyclist Pascal Terry smiles at the crowd as he participates in the racers' presentation a day before the start of the Dakar Rally 2009, in Buenos Aires January 2, 2009. Terry, aged 49, was found dead on the route of the Dakar rally, organisers said on January 7. Picture taken January 2, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    "He was in a place very hard to access in the middle of heavy bushes, some 15 meters from his bike," organizers said in a statement.

    "He had his helmet off and had found some shadow."

    The race, which started in Buenos Aires last week, has already left British driver Paul Green and his navigator Matthew Harrison in serious condition in hospital after their car overturned during Saturday's first stage.

    A hospital spokesman in the provincial city of Santa Rosa said both men were breathing with the help of apparatus after suffering severe knocks to the thorax and spine.

    Spaniard Carlos Sainz won the fourth stage by six seconds from Qatar's Nasser Al Attiyah on Tuesday to maintain the overall lead.

    

French rider Pascal Gilbert speaks on a mobile phone in this January 4, 2009 file photo. Gilbert's co-equipper motorcyclist Pascal Terry was found dead on the route of the Dakar rally, organisers said January 7, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Sainz, who also won Sunday's second stage, completed the 459km stage across the dust-laden back roads of southern Patagonia in three hours 42.57 minutes with his Qatari rival, winner of the first and third stages, in hot pursuit.

    Sainz, who clinched the 11th Dakar rally stage of his career, retained the overall lead where he is 3.49 minutes ahead of Al Attiyah after the section from Ingeniero Jacobacci to Neuquen.

    Marc Coma completed a double for Spain when he won the motorcycle stage in four hours 9.32 minutes to extend his overall lead to 42.57 minutes ahead of Johan Street.

    Coma, who has won three of the four stages, finished 1.17 minutes ahead of Frenchman Cyril Despres with Street in third place a further four seconds behind.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)