Dakar Rally - Stage 8 results
Dakar Rally Media - Jan 10, 2011

Overall leader and first 5 positions: Marc Coma, Cyril Despres, Frrancisco Lopez Contardo, Helder Rodrigues, and Ruben Faria.

A past master in three-way battles for the title, Marc Coma triumphed in Copiapo to pick up his third special stage this year, consolidating his position as race leader a little further.

The initial cull is now over. Unless there is an epidemic of insurmountable mechanical problems, the battle for overall victory should be the business of Marc Coma, Cyril Despres and Francisco Lopez.  

So far, the kilometres travelled have been favourable to the Spaniard, who first and foremost must be on his guard and protect the lead he possesses. Between Antofagasta and Copiapo, he even endeavoured to improve it, skilfully benefitting from his starting position. As third rider to start in the early morning, the Catalan soon overtook his Andorran neighbour with whom he spent the rest of the day. In fact, this duo became a trio once they joined by “Chaleco”, the winner of yesterday's stage only opening the road for a tiny part of the special's 508 kilometres.

The cohabitation in this impossible threesome represented a trap for Cyril Despres, forced to assume navigational duties for the group. Meanwhile, Coma deployed a strategy of control, whereas Lopez preferred to push himself to the limit rather than see his riding companions leave him in their dust. At the finishing line, the leader of the general standings was credited with the best time, with a lead of 1'55” over Despres. Aware that this situation can lead him into a cul-de-sac, the title holder showed his irritation with the following remark: “In cycling some riders stick to your back wheel like leeches; well, there's the same thing in rally raids too”.

The day's fourth-placed rider, Helder Rodrigues, occupies the same rank in the general standings, but trails the Chilean rider by almost 20 minutes. The Portuguese rider is still a potential candidate for a place on the podium, unlike his countryman who won the stage at Iquique, Paolo Gonçalves, and who exited the rally after crashing and breaking his collar bone. Frans Verhoeven saw a distance open up between himself and the Top 5, after having spent several hours making running repairs on his BMW at the start of the stage. Jonah Street and Jordi Viladoms also saw their hopes dashed further on the day's special. However, these mishaps were good news for Pal-Anders Ullevalseter. The runner-up to Despres in 2010 is starting to get used to his 450cc and finally put in a time worthy of his status, finishing in 5th place in Copiapo. The disasters which befell those in front of him yesterday should enable him to climb up to 7th position, after having started the rally in 29th place!