Dakar delight for despres

Andorra-based KTM rider Cyril Despres, secured his fourth Dakar win on the penultimate stage of the 14-day event, when Spanish arch-rival and team-mate Marc Coma suffered a gearbox problem and then made a costly navigational error from which he could not recover.

 

Coma managed to finish second overall on his KTM and Portugal's Helder Rodrigues rounded off the podium places on his Yamaha, claiming one stage victory in Peru into the bargain.

 

The ASO's decision to take the event through Argentina and Chile and into Peru for the first time was a wise one, with treacherous sand dunes between Arequipa and Lima accounting for many riders and drivers.

 

Spaniard Jordi Viladoms emerged from the dust and the fesh-fesh to take fourth overall on a Bordone-Ferrari KTM and Slovakia's Stefan Svitko was fifth on another Austrian-built machine.

 

The ever-consistent Norwegian Pal-Anders Ullesvalseter rode his KTM home in sixth place and the Bordone-Ferrari KTMs of 

Gerard Farres Guell and Alessandro Botturi were seventh and eighth. 

 

Frenchman Olivier Pain rode his Yamaha into ninth and Brazilian Felipe Zanol rounded off the top ten.

 

Numerous problems pushed the likes of Ruben Faria (12th), Frans Verhoeven (15th) and Paulo Goncalves (26th) down the 

finishing order.

 

Britain's Stanley Watt began the second half of the rally in a fine 42nd overall on his KTM and continued to tackle each stage at a measured pace to reach the finish in Lima in 34th overall.

 

Tobias Younger reached Copiapo in 120th position out of the remaining 123 bikers. The Team Desert Rose KTM 450 EXC rider managed to complete the eighth stage into Antofagasta in 114th position and continued to improve as many of his rivals fell by the wayside. 

 

He eventually reached the finish in 96th overall.

 

Copiapo to Lima

 

Only 123 bikes started the eighth stage across the Atacama Desert between Copiapo and Antofagasta last Monday morning – and Francesco Lopez was not among them.

 

The Chilean had damaged knee ligaments in a fall on the loop stage and heeded medical advice not to continue from his ninth position in the overall standings.

 

Coma set out first into the 477km special, but both Despres and Goncalves became bogged down in thick mud and began to lose valuable time.

 

The Frenchman had lost more than eight minutes at the 11km point and watched his hard-earned lead disappear in one fell swoop.

 

He passed the first passage control 11:55 behind Coma, the new virtual leader of the bike category and the deficit had grown to 15:49 by the third pass control.

 

Coma continued to lead from the front and finished the special 9:14 in front of his great rival to open up a slender overall lead of 1:26, with just six stages remaining.

 

It was the Spaniard's 20th Dakar stage win. Portuguese rider Ruben Faria was seven minutes adrift in second place, Joan Barreda Bort was third and Despres finished the special in sixth spot. Watt was 64th and Younger was classified in 114th.

 

"It was a very long special,” admitted Coma. "I was lucky not to lose too much time in the mud and then I saw I could open a gap, so I attacked really hard. But towards the end I noticed I had engine problems, so I slowed as well.”

 

The reason that Coma was not much further in front came to light in the bivouac. The organisers, ASO, had listened to Despres' request to have the time he, Rodrigues, Ullesvalseter and Goncalves had lost in the muddy hole reinstated, on the grounds that the area was not in the road book.

 

Eight minutes were taken off the Frenchman's stage time and, to add insult to injury for Coma, he had pressed on to make up an advantage only for his engine to start giving problems.

 

Did the outcome of the Dakar now rest on this decision?

 

 

Final positions: 1 Cyril Despres (F - KTM) 43h:28m:11s, 2 Marc Coma (E - KTM) 44:21:31, 3 Helder Rodrigues (P - Yamaha) 44:39:28, Jordi Viladoms (E - KTM) 45:09:07, 5 Stefan Svitko (SVK - 450 KTM) 45:15:39, 6 Pal-Anders Ullesvalseter (N - KTM) 45:40:07, 7 Gerard Farres Guell (E - KTM) 45:42:33, 8 Alessandro Botturi (I - KTM) 46:27:15, 9 Olivier Pain (F - Yamaha) 46:46:01, 10 Felipe Zanol (BRA - KTM) 46:54:07,...

Select others: 12 Ruben Faria (P - KTM) 47:41:21,... 15 Frans Verhoeven (NL - Sherco) 48:34:07,... 26 Paolo Goncalves (P - Husqvarna) 51:38:37,... 39 Laia Sanz (E - Gas Gas) 55:59:54 (Best Lady),...

British Finishers: 34 Stanley Watt (GB - KTM) 54:38:41,... 96 Tobias Younger (GB - KTM) 124:04:46,...Frenchman Cyril Despres claimed victory in the 2012 Dakar Argentina-Chile-Peru Rally after one of the closest and most exciting battles in the event's 34-year history

 

Report: Neil Perkins

Pictures: KTM IMAGES/ M Maragni, SPEEDBRAIN and GAS GAS KH7 DAKAR

 

Andorra-based KTM rider Cyril Despres, secured his fourth Dakar win on the penultimate stage of the 14-day event, when Spanish arch-rival and team-mate Marc Coma suffered a gearbox problem and then made a costly navigational error from which he could not recover.

 

Coma managed to finish second overall on his KTM and Portugal's Helder Rodrigues rounded off the podium places on his Yamaha, claiming one stage victory in Peru into the bargain.

 

The ASO's decision to take the event through Argentina and Chile and into Peru for the first time was a wise one, with treacherous sand dunes between Arequipa and Lima accounting for many riders and drivers.

 

Spaniard Jordi Viladoms emerged from the dust and the 

fesh-fesh to take fourth overall on a Bordone-Ferrari KTM and Slovakia's Stefan Svitko was fifth on another Austrian-built machine.

 

The ever-consistent Norwegian Pal-Anders Ullesvalseter rode his KTM home in sixth place and the Bordone-Ferrari KTMs of 

Gerard Farres Guell and Alessandro Botturi were seventh and eighth. 

 

Frenchman Olivier Pain rode his Yamaha into ninth and Brazilian Felipe Zanol rounded off the top ten.

 

Numerous problems pushed the likes of Ruben Faria (12th), Frans Verhoeven (15th) and Paulo Goncalves (26th) down the 

finishing order.

 

Britain's Stanley Watt began the second half of the rally in a fine 42nd overall on his KTM and continued to tackle each stage at a measured pace to reach the finish in Lima in 34th overall.

 

Tobias Younger reached Copiapo in 120th position out of the remaining 123 bikers. The Team Desert Rose KTM 450 EXC rider managed to complete the eighth stage into Antofagasta in 114th position and continued to improve as many of his rivals fell by the wayside. 

 

He eventually reached the finish in 96th overall.

 

Copiapo to Lima

 

Only 123 bikes started the eighth stage across the Atacama Desert between Copiapo and Antofagasta last Monday morning – and Francesco Lopez was not among them.

 

The Chilean had damaged knee ligaments in a fall on the loop stage and heeded medical advice not to continue from his ninth position in the overall standings.

 

Coma set out first into the 477km special, but both Despres and Goncalves became bogged down in thick mud and began to lose valuable time.

 

The Frenchman had lost more than eight minutes at the 11km point and watched his hard-earned lead disappear in one fell swoop.

 

He passed the first passage control 11:55 behind Coma, the new virtual leader of the bike category and the deficit had grown to 15:49 by the third pass control.

 

Coma continued to lead from the front and finished the special 9:14 in front of his great rival to open up a slender overall lead of 1:26, with just six stages remaining.

 

It was the Spaniard's 20th Dakar stage win. Portuguese rider Ruben Faria was seven minutes adrift in second place, Joan Barreda Bort was third and Despres finished the special in sixth spot. Watt was 64th and Younger was classified in 114th.

 

"It was a very long special,” admitted Coma. "I was lucky not to lose too much time in the mud and then I saw I could open a gap, so I attacked really hard. But towards the end I noticed I had engine problems, so I slowed as well.”

 

The reason that Coma was not much further in front came to light in the bivouac. The organisers, ASO, had listened to Despres' request to have the time he, Rodrigues, Ullesvalseter and Goncalves had lost in the muddy hole reinstated, on the grounds that the area was not in the road book.

 

Eight minutes were taken off the Frenchman's stage time and, to add insult to injury for Coma, he had pressed on to make up an advantage only for his engine to start giving problems.

 

Did the outcome of the Dakar now rest on this decision?

 

FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX JANUARY 20

 

34th International Dakar RallyArgentina-Chile-Peru

Final positions: 1 Cyril Despres (F - KTM) 43h:28m:11s, 2 Marc Coma (E - KTM) 44:21:31, 3 Helder Rodrigues (P - Yamaha) 44:39:28, Jordi Viladoms (E - KTM) 45:09:07, 5 Stefan Svitko (SVK - 450 KTM) 45:15:39, 6 Pal-Anders Ullesvalseter (N - KTM) 45:40:07, 7 Gerard Farres Guell (E - KTM) 45:42:33, 8 Alessandro Botturi (I - KTM) 46:27:15, 9 Olivier Pain (F - Yamaha) 46:46:01, 10 Felipe Zanol (BRA - KTM) 46:54:07,...

Select others: 12 Ruben Faria (P - KTM) 47:41:21,... 15 Frans Verhoeven (NL - Sherco) 48:34:07,... 26 Paolo Goncalves (P - Husqvarna) 51:38:37,... 39 Laia Sanz (E - Gas Gas) 55:59:54 (Best Lady),...

British Finishers: 34 Stanley Watt (GB - KTM) 54:38:41,... 96 Tobias Younger (GB - KTM) 124:04:46,...