Marc Coma still overall leader after stage 2
By TMX Archives on 5th Jan 09
Over the second short stage victory went to Frans Verhoeven (KTM) 0'41 ahead of Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) with David Fretigne third (at 1'04).
Despite running into problems with his oil cooler, Marc Coma (Repsol KTM)maintains his overall lead 13'47 ahead of Verhoeven with Fretigne third (at16'51). Enjoying a better run than yesterday, Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) movesup from 20th to 11th overall (at 29'28) just ahead of Cyril Despres (at 30'02).
Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) 2nd (at 0'41) 12th overall (at30'02)
Despite the dust on the first part of the stage I got past 4 or 5riders early on and was going well until I started to feel that the rear shockwasn't working as it should be. I stopped at km 50 to have a good look andrealised there was a problem with the rebound damping. Then a little later on,in the first off-piste section, I hit a small tuft of grass and was thrown up inthe air and over the bars. I landed heavily and damaged the navigation gear. Notwanting to get lost in this area I quickly got on the bike and chased after theothers, before carrying out further repairs once we got to the piste again. Ithink in all I lost about 6 or 7 minutes which is disappointing. On the otherhand this evening I am only 30 minutes behind Marc and 30 minutes is much betterthan 40!
Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) 4th (at 1'33) 11th overall (at29'28)
I started in 20th place and on the first part it was impossibleto pass the slower riders in the dust. Then we got to the off-piste part and Iwas able to go a little bit faster. I thought I had finished about 10th so whenI got to the bivouac and discovered I was 4th I was pretty happy. There were afew stony parts on the course and as I was riding with an inner tube I had totake it easy. Maybe I could have gone faster with a mousse, but maybe not. Eachsolution has its advantages and disadvantages...
Marc Coma (RepsolKTM) 17th (at 12'27) 1st overall
Everything was going normally and I waslooking forward to having another good day when, at about kilometre 100, the oilcooler developed a leak - I knew straightaway ‘cos my face got covered in thestuff! I stopped to make repairs with some magic metal and then kept stopping tocheck the oil level and ‘borrow' oil from spectators. In the end I was justhappy to get to the end. Obviously I lost some time but I am still in the leadand it could have been a lot worse. This really is the Dakar and I think everyday will be eventful.
Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) 92nd (3h08'39)184th overall (at 8h19'01)
I started almost last this morning afteryesterday's misadventures and was determined to pull back some places and getout of the dust. And everything was going well until I ran out of petrol at km101. The rear fuel pipe connector had broken and I had lost all my gas. Imanaged to persuade some locals to go and find me some and they came back after15 minutes and filled me up. While I was waiting all the riders I had overtakecame past me and I had to get by them all again. Here's hoping I have a betterday tomorrow!
Provisional results after 2nd stage
1. FransVerhoeven, Netherlands, KTM
2. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
3. DavidFretigne, France, Yamaha
4. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
5. Jonah Street,USA, KTM
17. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
92. Alain Duclos, France, KTM
Provisional overall standings
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Frans Verhoeven, Netherlands, KTM
3. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
4. Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM
5. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
11. JordiViladoms, Spain, KTM
12. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
21st place forKTM ATV rider Camelia Liparoti at 2nd stage, 22nd place overall, 7h7min44sbehind the leader.