Dakar Rally - Stages 3, 4, & 5 Update
Dakar Rally Media - Jan 6, 2011

On the long special of the day, Marc Coma was victorious for the 12th time in his career on the Dakar. Cyril Despres holds on to the race lead by a small margin, whereas outsiders Paulo Gonçalves and Olivier Pain did their chances a whole world of good. Carlos

The sharp increase in mileage to be covered thrust the Dakar riders into a new dimension of the race. The change in terrain, demanding more subtle navigational skills than on the last two stages, gave rise to a number of different scenarios. Cyril Despres, for example, who had distanced his rivals in an unruffled manner up to this point, lost a significant part of his lead due to several mistakes at the start of the day. After 113 km of racing, the title holder found himself even more than 4’ behind the BMW belonging to Gonçalves, the quickest rider at CP1.

Always discrete but always there, Marc Coma took on the role of opening the road. Well versed in this honor, he did a very efficient job and picked up his 12th stage victory on the Dakar in San Salvador de Jujuy, ahead of Cyril Despres. The Frenchman, who managed to make up some of the time lost during the second part of the day, held on to his position as leader of the general standings. However, with the Catalan closing in, the two rivals are almost level-pegging: they are separated by merely 14 seconds.

Coma was not the only beneficiary of the day’s battles. Paulo Gonçalves, third-placed 3’36” behind the stage winner, moves up a rank with his fine performance. The Portuguese rider is now 4th in the general standings. The progress of Olivier Pain is even more noteworthy. He had targeted this stage as a potential target for his first victory on the Dakar. In the end, the Yamaha rider finished fourth today, but moved from 11th place to 6th in the general standings. The youngest of the genuine pretenders for the Top 5 places even managed to overtake Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez, who lost 13 minutes today and now lies in 7th, already 18’ behind Coma.

Stage 4 – San Salvador De Jujui to Calama

Marc Coma wins this Stage followed by Francisco Lopez Contardo, Olivier Pain, Helder Rodrigues, and Juan Pedrero Garcia.

Marc Coma leads overall followed by Francisco Lopez Contardo, Pain, Rodrigues, and Garcia respectively. 

Cyril Despres has fallen to 9^th overall.

Fifteen participants have withdrawn from the Dakar at this point of the race. Five Yamahas, 3 KTMs, 2 Aprilias, 2 Hondas, and 1 each Husquarna, BMW and BETA are out of the race.

Stage 5 – Calama to Iquique

Paulo Goncalves wins Stage 5 followed by Francisco Lopez Contardo, Frans Verhoeven, Marc Coma, and Cyril Despres.

After 5 Stages Marc Coma leads followed by Cyril Despres, Francisco Lopez Contardo, Paulo Goncalves, and Helder Rodrigues.

After tackling the first dunes on the Personal Dakar Argentina Chile, Francisco Lopez thought he had won his fourth stage on the Dakar. But the time taken by Paulo Gonçalves, 4th to finish the special, was modified to take account of the assistance he gave to Olivier Pain, who crashed at the 231 km point. The Portuguese rider picks up his first victory on the Dakar as a result.

Francisco Lopez has made a habit of winning at least one stage at home since the Dakar has been hosted by his country. Last year, “Chaleco” missed out on this prestigious stage due to a navigational mistake. This time, after a faultless performance all along the 423 km of the Day’s special, the Chilean fans’ favorite offered himself a royal descent down to the now famous finish at Iquique, with its 3 in 10 gradient and many spectators. Success seemed to be on the side of Lopez, because when it came to totting up, he appeared to have won the stage by one second from Frans Verhoeven. The Dutchman could thus harbor legitimate regrets about the crash he suffered only 2 kilometers from the finishing line, condemning him to second place. However, in the end he picked up third place, because Paulo Gonçalves benefited from a correction of his time to win his first special. It is also the first victory for BMW on the Dakar since the era of Richard Sainct, who triumphed on a German-made bike in 1999 and 2000.

The state of play in the general standings requires a fair bit of explanation after today’s stage. Firstly, one of the Top 10 left the race just at the moment when he was at its forefront. Olivier Pain, who had just put in the best provisional time after 218 km, crashed at the 231 km point. With a broken wrist, the Yamaha rider was airlifted by the medical helicopter from the race route.

The accident had a knock-on effect on the positions gained in Iquique. In fact, Marc Coma, who finished 13 minutes behind Lopez due to a fall at the start of the special (after 80 km) stopped and gave up some time, like Gonçalves, to help Olivier Pain. Provisionally 2nd in the general standings, the Spaniard benefitted from a correction to his result, enabling him to retain his position as leader, 10’14” ahead of Despres. Bearing in mind that the title holder received a ten minute penalty due to a lack of attention to the starting procedures on stage 4, the differences gained on the track are minimal between the two favorites. Lopez lies in 3rd position, 18’32” behind Coma, whilst the day’s hero is in 4th position, trailing the race leader by 21’42”.