Unfased by some of the highest sand dunes in the world with razor sharp crests, the American/South African combination of Mark Miller and Ralph Pitchford finished third on what was billed to be the toughest stage yet on the 2009 Dakar Rally Argentina-Chile on Tuesday.

In the process they retained their second position overall behind team-mates Carlos Sainz of Spain and French co-driver Michel Perin and increased their lead over third-placed team-mates Giniel de Villiers of South Africa and German Dirk von Zitzewitz to 13min 42sec.

It was another good day for the Volkswagen team and their Race Touaregs, with overall leader Sainz winning his sixth stage and increasing his lead over Miller/Pitchford to 27min 31sec. El Matador has now won no less than 15 Dakar stages.

The day?s special stage was shortened from a marathon 670km to 476km after the start was delayed by fog coming off the Pacific Ocean. It was still very demanding with giant sand dunes, dust and searing heat in the middle of the Atacama desert.

?We had a tough time with navigation all morning,? said Miller. ?And when you struggle with navigating, it is hard to keep a good pace. After that we had a flat. I really thought we would do better today.?

?It was really tough out there and hot,? said Pitchford. ?The size of the sand dunes had to be seen to be believed — the Atacama Desert is more than worthy of a visit from the Dakar Rally. Tomorrow we cross back over the Andes into Argentina and then it?s downhill to Buenos Aires and the sea. We?ve still got a long way to go and the Dakar always has a twist in the tail, but it?s looking more and more like a blue Volkswagen is going to cross the finish line first.?