The hard and dangerous Atacama dunes struck a blow during Stage 9 with GWM/Haval driver Christian Lavieille who took on enough damage to his Haval H8 to affect his speed during the second phase of the stage. Lavieille finished the stage with the 15th fastest time, still good enough to maintain his overall ninth place.
The stage was won by Stephane Peterhansel (Mini) who closed the gap to overall leader Nani Roma (Mini) once again. Roma lost significant time when he got stuck on a dune. Spain’s Carlos Sainz (SMG Buggy) had another dismal day, experiencing mechanical troubles that cost him nearly two hours, and dropped him to eighth overall.
Following Stage 9, the GWM/Haval team has stated that Lavieille will pick up the pace from Stage 10 in an effort achieve a better overall position.
| Stage 9 Car Ranking | ||
| Position | Stage Time | Split |
| 1. Peterhansel (FRA) | 004:17:53 | |
| 2. Al-Attiyah (QAT) | 004:20:10 | +00:02:17 |
| 3. Roma (ESP) | 004:29:29 | +00:11:36 |
| 4. Terranova (ARG) | 004:32:07 | +00:14:14 |
| 5. De Villiers (ARG) | 004:40:50 | +00:22:57 |
| 10. Baldwin (USA) | 005:31:21 | +01:13:28 |
| 15. Mathew (USA) | 005:48:23 | +01:30:30 |
| 36. Gordon (USA) | 006:17:24 | +01:59:31 |
| OVERALL Car Ranking after Stage 8 | ||
| Position | Total Time | Split |
| 1. Roma (ESP) | 034:15:37 | |
| 2. Peterhansel (FRA) | 034:27:47 | +00:12:10 |
| 3. Terranova (AEG) | 035:10:10 | +00:54:33 |
| 4. Al-Attiyah (ZAF) | 035:15:23 | +00:59:46 |
| 5. De Villiers (ZAF) | 035:15:23 | +00:59:46 |
| 24. Gordon (USA) | 043:56:22 | +09:40:45 |
| 31. Baldwin (USA) | 048:28:12 | +14:41:03 |
| 55. Mathew (CAN) | 084:50:50 | +50:35:13 |
