Frans Verhoeven takes Dakar's Stage 11
Maverick - Jan 15, 2010

The Dakar bid Chile farewell after 7 special stages and said hello again to Argentina for a tough home straight leading to Buenos Aires. In the bike race, a navigation error put a halt to the fine series of triumphs by Marc Coma. Instead, Dutchman Frans Verhoeven was victorious, offering BMW an unexpected win on the rally.

Cyril Despres keeps hold of the lead in the general standings.

After a very early awakening followed by a journey through the Andes via the Paso Libertadores pass, at an altitude of 3500 m, the Dakar’s bikers tackled a 220-km special similar to the previous day’s stage: fast along winding tracks and for the most part downhill. In these conditions, with Marc Coma opening the road, it was not unreasonable to predict another success for the Catalan. However, a bad navigation mistake put paid to that.

After 13 km he carried on straight ahead instead of turning right, meaning he rode for 3 km in one direction, then 3 km in the other before rejoining the correct route, losing around a dozen minutes to the quickest riders at CP1 (after 51 km). The competitors just behind him made the same mistake, but since they saw the Spaniard backtracking, they were able to limit the damage. 

The ninth biker to start this morning, American Jonah Street, who has been rather discreet since the beginning of the rally (never featuring in the top 5 of a special), did not make the same directional error. As a result, he achieved the best time at CP1 but had a lead of only 7 seconds over the whirlwind Frans Verhoeven on his BMW who is finishing the rally in a much better way than he started. This duel carried on right until the finishing line. In the end, it was Verhoeven who was victorious by 3 tiny seconds. The ‘Flying Dutchman’ picked up his 3rd stage win on the Dakar after his successes in Puerto Madryn and Copiapo last year. This victory could go a long way to helping the BMW rider forget the setbacks he suffered during the fist two stages.

For statistics fans, the last victory by a BMW bike on the Dakar dates back to 2001, at a time when a certain Cyril Despres won in Tambacounda.

Pal Anders Ullevalseter was the big winner of the day in his quest for a place on the podium. The Norwegian finished in 4th place on the day, behind Alain Duclos, strengthening his 2nd place in the general standings with a lead that now stands at 2’40 over Lopez and more importantly almost 10’ over Rodrigues, who encountered plenty of navigational problems. Marc Coma eventually finished the day more than 5’ behind the stage winner.

The leader in the general standings, Cyril Despres, once again did the necessary to protect his lead. The Frenchman, on a KTM, maintains a 1 hour 20 minute lead over Ullevalseter. ((

Life has really changed for this former plasterer. Five years ago Frans Verhoeven showed up on the Dakar with the simple reputation of being a decent enduro rider. Two weeks later, the Dutchman finished the race 16th. Two years later he had become the “water-carrier” for Cyril Despres. And last year, he was on equal terms with the best riders on the South American territory.

As well as his entry in the Top 10 (8th overall), he also conquered his first two special victories with the feeling he could still do better: “I especially feel comfortable on the very long stages and actually the two that I won were the longest. That’s why I was a bit disappointed by the kilometre cut of several stages that would have suited my capacities.”

Founder of his own team, he put aside the World Cup races to focus at 100% on the preparation of his new bike, a BMW, to go and battle it out with the best: “Since the 1st of March, I’ve spent all my time developing this 450cc, testing a lot both in my country and in Romania. I just lack of race experience but I feel comfortable on the bike and I feel it’s ready for the Dakar. I especially focused on the reliability of the engine rather than working on its power. And I know that I can ride full blast without breaking, it’s a security. Now we don’t yet know the level of performance of the 450cc bikes compared to the 690cc machines with restrictors. It’ll certainly be very open.