Lopez blazes Dakar trail
By TMX Archives on 6th Jan 12
Chiles Francesco Chaleco Lopez was the early leader of the 34th Dakar Argentina-Chile-Peru, after the opening days short 57km Special Stage over sandy terrain near Mar del Plata in Argentina.
The stage took place on New Year's Day en route to Santa Rosa de la Pampa in the Argentine grassland region and followed the official New Year's Eve podium send-off from the Colon Plaza at the crowded coastal tourist resort of Mar del Plata.
The first of the 14 special stages was the shortest in the entire format of 4,019 competitive kilometres on offer in a total route of 8,391km.
Some 178 bike riders and 30 quads rode for 820km between the two Argentine towns on day one, but only 57km was timed against the clock for the entire 450cc mounted bike field.
Much of the day was spent avoiding technical problems in two tedious road sections, where vast crowds lined the streets and roads to welcome the Dakar back to inland Argentina.
Defending champion, Spain's Marc Coma finished the stage in second position and French rival Cyril Despres was classified down in 13th overall, as both riders bid to win the Dakar for a fourth time.
Argentina's Javier Pizzolito snatched third position on his Honda, American Alexis Cody Quinn was fourth – despite a pre-event scare when his Honda was shipped from the USA to Peru by mistake – and Poland's Jakub Przygonski rounded off the top five.
Sam Sunderland made the perfect preparations for his quest for glory by winning the recent Qatar International Baja.
The highly rated Dubai-based Brit is racing for Honda Team Europe and held a sensational seventh overall after the first stage.
Iain Stevenson, Neil Scott-Thomas, Darryl Curtis and Greg Raaf's motorcycles were delayed on the trip from the United States.
On New Year's Eve, the ship carrying them had only reached Delta Dock in Buenos Aires, roughly 500 km from Mar del Plata.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX JANUARY 6
34th DAKAR ARGENTINA-CHILE-PERU
Standings after Stage 1
