DAK ATTACK!
By TMX Archives on 11th Jan 13
Spaniard Joan Barreda-Bort led the 35th Dakar Rally after the second timed special stage around the bivouac in Pisco, on Sunday afternoon.
The Husqvarna rider finished the special six-minutes 26-sec in front of Portugal's Ruben Faria and headed into Monday's stage between Pisco and Nazca with an overall lead of 5min 36secs.
"I got lost at the beginning of the Pisco stage, but I wasn't the only one who needed some time to find his bearings,” admitted Barreda-Bort.
"I quickly got back on the right track and everything went really well after that. It has been a good start for me.”
Spaniard Juan Pedrero Garcia held third on his KTM and defending champion Cyril Despres made a cautious start with the fifth quickest time on the first stage and the fifth fastest time on stage two, to hold fifth overall and trail Barreda-Bort by 8mins 50secs.
Frenchman David Casteu was fourth and Australian rider Matt Fish began well with his Husqvarna to hold sixth position.
The British riders had started brightly, with James West and Stanley Watt holding 43rd and 47th overall after the second stage.
Tim Forman had also made a strong start and the KTM rider was up into 52nd position as the entourage headed towards Nazca on Monday morning. Lyndon Poskitt held 85th overall and Craig Bounds was 133rd overall.
Lima–Pisco
There was drama involving the leading riders even before the event had begun in South America.
Spaniard Marc Coma, winner in 2006, 2009 and 2011, was forced to withdraw just days before the KTM team was set to leave for Lima.
Coma had won the FIM World Cross-Country Championship in 2012, but suffered a dislocated left shoulder during the Rally of Morocco in October.
After medical checks and a pre-race assessment it was decided that the three-time winner would not be fit enough to try and prevent Cyril Despres from retaining his Dakar title and Coma was withdrawn.
He was recruited to assist the pre-race preparations for his late stand-in, American rider Kurt Caselli, and support the KTM team with road book advice and support.
Coma was not the only disappointed rider in the build up to the Dakar.
Dubai-based Briton Sam Sunderland and Brazilian colleague Felipe Zanol crashed in pre-Dakar tests in the Mojave Desert in the USA and were unable to take the start in Lima last Saturday. Team HRC, therefore, lined up with just three riders – Portugal's Helder Rodrigues, American's Johnny Campbell and Argentina's Javier Pizzolito.
"Compared to Morocco, my CRF 450 Rally has improved a lot in terms of engine power, suspensions and chassis,” explained Rodrigues, who was joined at the start by HRC president, Tetsuo Suzuki.
For full report and pictures see TMX News January 11
35th DAKAR PERU-ARGENTINA-CHILE
Positions after leg 2
OVERALL: 1 Joan Barreda-Bort (E - Husqvarna) 3-hrs 24-min 11-sec, 2 Ruben Faria (P - KTM) 3:29:47, 3 Juan Pedrero Garcia (E - KTM) 3:30:47, 4 David Casteu (F - Yamaha) 3:31:09, 5 Cyril Despres (F - KTM) 3:33:01, 6 Matt Fish (AUS - Husqvarna) 3:33:29, 7 Daryll Curtis (ZA - KTM) 3:33:30, 8 Pal-Anders Ullesvalseter (N - KTM) 3:33:38, 9 Jordi Viladoms (E - Husqvarna) 3:33:46, 10 Jeremias Israel Esquerra (CH - Honda) 3:33:50,...
Select otherS: 11 Kurt Caselli (US - KTM) 3:33:56, 13 Olivier Pain (F - Yamaha) 3:35:44, 15 Helder Rodrigues (P - Honda) 3:36:43, 17 Stefan Svitko (SLO - KTM) 3:37:51, 18 Frans Verhoeven (NL - Yamaha) 3:37:55, 20 Francesco Lopez (CHL - KTM) 3:40:00, 21 David Fretigne (F) 3:40:05, 22 Paolo Goncalves (P - Husqvarna) 3:40:46,...
British riders: 43 James West (GB - Sherco) 3:53:35,... 47 Stanley Watt (GB - KTM) 3:57:44,... 52 Tim Forman (GB - KTM) 4:00:44,... 85 Lyndon Poskitt (GB - Honda) 4:23:07,... 133 Craig Bounds (GB - KTM) 4:57:15,...
