Dakar Motorcycle Update: Stage 9

The French rider has two stage victories in this edition so far. Coma has won four stages and with Stage 6 scrapped, KTM has claimed six of eight stages so far. Both riders are chasing their fourth Dakar Rally title and if either of them succeed it will represent KTM’s eleventh successive victory. The Austrian sports motorcycle specialist has shut out all the competition in every Dakar Rally since 2001 (the 2008 edition was cancelled).

Despres ended yesterday with a deficit of around 12 minutes after sacrificing the overall lead to Coma. The mud hole turned out to be a natural hazard that occurred after the final official inspection had been done by organizers and was not marked on the road book. Cyril and six other riders got stuck in the mud and race officials decided a detour was in order rather than deal with the obvious chaos. They later reinstated lost time to the riders disadvantaged and when they left on Tuesday Cyril trailed Marc by just over a minute.

It was with this in mind that he put down the hammer on his KTM 450 Rally bike and rode with a passion to lead throughout the special. His reward for such a doggedly determined ride was the fastest stage time – second place in Stage 9 after the 15 minute penalty – and the overall lead in standings of the Dakar 2012 again.

Despres however went back to the bivouac knowing that the job is far from done. At the fourth Way Point Coma was 3 minutes 55 seconds behind and at the finish, after riders had engaged in the steep descent down to Iquique, he trailed by 3 minutes 54 seconds (both times without the penalty). With third placed Helder Rodrigues of Portugal now behind Despres at 44 minutes 19 seconds, the 33^rd Dakar Rally continues to be a two-rider race.

Despres said he was feeling good after the stage. “I had to get back to my winning ways after a difficult day yesterday when you start to doubt. It wasn’t easy to psyche myself up for it, but I’m very happy with my day’s work. We came into this looking at a battle for seconds or minutes. It’s very competitive. Like any sportsman, if you don’t like confrontation or squeezing the last ounces of strength out of yourself, then you’re not ready for a fight. But, as for me, I’m up for it.”

Meanwhile Coma is very aware that the race is still wide open and he remains cool, strong and ready to apply the necessary tactics. “We knew that this would be difficult today. It was a long special and there was plenty of navigation to deal with. We’re not coming to the crunch part of the rally. Cyril is a major rival and we do battle over every single kilometer. But I think it’s interesting, it’s sport.”

Joan Pedrero (Spain) and Rubin Faria (Portugal), the two support riders for the Coma and Despres finished tenth and twentytowth respectively. Faria made a recovering after having to stop briefly just 1.7 km after the start.

The first part of the timed special was relatively fast with patches of fesh-fesh, very fine dust like flour. The second special tested the navigational skills and the stage finished with a steep descent down to the coast at Iqique, a slope that already was a feature of the 2010 Dakar.

Stage 10 takes the Dakar Caravan from Iquique to Arica right on the border of Peru. It will be the riders’ last encounter with Chile’s notorious Atacama Desert with another dose of the power soft and quite treacherous fesh-fesh dust. Arica was the most northern point in last year’s rally. But it will not be the end of the sands. This year they continue into the coastal desert of Peru into the region of the famous Nazcar Lines, the ancient geoglyphs that are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Results Stage 9

1. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, 5 hours 16 minutes 17 seconds
2. Cyril Despres, France, KTM at 3 mintutes 16 seconds (15 minutes penalty)
3. Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM at 04:35
4. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM at 05:58
5. Frans Verhoeven, Netherland, Sherco at 07:02
6. Other KTM
7. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM at 07:10 (15 minutes penalty)
8. Gerard Farres Guell, Spain, KTM at 07:12
9. Felipe Zanol, Brazil, KTM at 10:41
10. Joan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 15:24
11. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM at 18:59 (15 minutes penalty)
12. Alessandro Botturi, Italy, KTM at 25:02 (5 minutes penalty)
13. Daniel Schroeder, Germany, KTM at 27:20
14. Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM at 28:19
15. Rubin Faria, Portugal, KTM at 33:27 (15 minutes penalty)
16. Johnny Aubert, France KTM at 41:57 (15 minutes penalty)

Overall Results after Stage 9

1. Cyril Despres, France, KTM, 28 hours 45 minutes 17 seconds (15 minutes penalty)
2. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM at 2 minutes 28 (15 minutes penalty)
3. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha at 44:19
4. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM at 1:13:43
5. Gerard Farres Guell, Spain, KTM at 1:18:05
6. Other KTM
7. Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM at 1:18:33
8. Joan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 1:37:13 (15 minutes penalty)
9. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM at 1:49:27 (55 minutes penalty)
10. Alessandro Botturi, Italy, KTM at 2:02:18 (5 minutes penalty)
11. Rubin Faria, Portugal, KTM at 2:28:36 (55 minutes penalty)
12. Felipe Zanol, Brazil, KTM at 2:43:09 (55 minutes penalty)
13. Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM at 3:08:29
14. Johnny Aubert, France, KTM at 3:31:56 (15 minutes penalty)