Despres in Dakar driving seat

As the event raced through remote Argentinean terrain and the battle-scarred riders endured foul weather conditions across the Andes, team-mates Despres and Coma continued to edge clear of the chasing pack, – with both riders closing in on a fourth Dakar success.

 

Navigational problems in Argentina had cost Coma dearly and he had been playing a game of catch-up all week, as Despres took few risks and rode a measured race from the front to hold the advantage at half-distance.

 

The chasing pack was beginning to bunch up and Portugal's Helder Rodrigues and Paolo Goncalves and Chile's Francesco Lopez were closely matched on their respective Yamaha, Husqvarna and Aprilia machines as riders enjoyed a much needed rest day in Copiapo on Sunday.

 

It was then off again for a blast through the vast Atacama desert and up the spine of Chile into Peru, before heading to the finish in Lima this Sunday.

 

Rodrigues held third overall at the halfway point, with Goncalves in fourth overall and Frenchman David Casteu rounding off the top five. 

 

A time-consuming fall on the Copiapo loop stage and damaged knee ligaments pushed Lopez down to ninth place.

Britain's Stanley Watt was riding a solid race and held 42nd overall after seven stages.

 

Tobias Younger was classified in 141st overall after four stages in Argentina on his Desert Rose Racing KTM 450 EXC and reached Copiapo in 120th position with massive time penalties still to be added to his overall time after he failed to register a time for the fifth stage.

 

Team-mate Jago Pickering retired on the fifth stage when lying 138th overall.

 

The second stage between Santa Rosa de la Pampa and San Rafael began at a small settlement, near La Humada, and crossed the bulk of the Pampa province.

 

A fast start gave way to deceptive, technical sections and tricky navigation. However Coma was in fine form and the defending champion stormed into an overall lead of 2:33 over Despres – who had started 13th – as the favourites for Dakar glory began to show their cards.

 

It was the Spaniard's 17th Dakar career stage win. Barreda Bort snatched third place on the stage, with Lopez slipping to fourth. Casteu was bitten by a spider and was forced to ride his Yamaha with a closed right eye and reduced visibility.

Jonah Street was also in trouble – the American spluttered to a halt after 234km and was unable to repair his Yamaha.

Brit Sam Sunderland's form was shortlived and the Dubai-based rider lost seventh position and his place in the rally after being badly delayed by electrical gremlins on his Honda.

 

Watt was delighted with the 56th quickest time and Pickering and Younger were still running well at the back of the field.

From 178 starters, 166 bikes were still in the overall classification. 

 

Only 160 bikes and 29 quads started the leg between San Rafael and San Juan, with a 291km liaison followed by a special stage of 270km in punishing heat, while fifth-placed Przygonski stopped with engine issues and Alexis Quinn Cody fell spectacularly and was assisted at the scene by Juan Pedrero-Garcia.

 

After an examination by medical staff from an over-flying helicopter, Cody was forced out of the race with a broken collarbone and a minor head injury. 

 

Navigational issues cost Lopez further time to both Coma and Despres.

 

Despres snatched the stage win after Coma followed the route for the cars at the 162km point instead of the shorter route for the bikes.

 

As the tracks headed up to 3,000 metres above sea level, the Frenchman capitalised on Coma's mistake and managed to reach the stage finish 8:37 in front of Franz Verhoeven's Sherco. "Today was just not my day,” admitted Coma afterwards.

The Spaniard was 13:04 adrift in seventh position on the special and slipped to second overall – 10:12 behind his great rival.

Casteu and Lopez were involved in a close tussle for third spot, Watt held 46th, Pickering was 144th and Younger was classified in 150th.

 

Despres led the surviving 152-strong bike field into the 326km stage between San Juan and Chilecito in Argentina before the Andes crossing into Chile last Friday. The special climbed as high as 3,500-metres and Coma was the man in form after his expensive navigational mistake the previous day.

 

He had shaved more than three minutes off Despres' lead by the second passage control and reached Chilecito 2:02 faster than the Frenchman to reduce the overall deficit to 8:10.

 

Verhoeven, Rodrigues and Goncalves rounded off the top five on the stage and Rodrigues held third place, albeit almost 27-minutes behind the leader. 

 

"The rainfall in the area made it difficult,” admitted Despres. 

 

 

ARGENTINA-CHILE-PERU

Overall standings after 7 stages

 1 Cyril Despres (F - KTM) 18:12:38

 2 Marc Coma (E - KTM) 18:20:26

 3 Helder Rodrigues (P - Yamaha) 19:02:17

 4 Paolo Goncalves (P - Husky) 19:08:11

 5 David Casteu (F - Yamaha) 19:18:16

 6 Jordi Viladoms (E - KTM) 19:20:18

 7 Gerard Farres Guell (E - KTM) 19:20:38

 8 Stefan Svitko (SVK - KTM) 19:29:57

 9 Francesco Lopez (CHL - Aprilia) 19:29:58

10 Juan Pedrero Garcia (E - KTM) 19:36:26

11 Olivier Pain (F - Yamaha) 19:44:27

12 Alessandro Boturi (I - KTM) 19:46:48

British riders (still running): 42 Stanley Watt (GB - KTM) 23:32:28,... 120 Tobias Younger (GB - KTM) ???,...

RETIRED: Jago Pickering (GB - KTM) SS5, Sam Sunderland (GB - Honda) SS2 (electrics).