Dakar Rally, Rest Day
Dakar Rally Media - Jan 10, 2012

Seven days to go until Lima and 125 motorcycles are still in the running as the rally takes a rest day in Copiapó. Some competitors are still arriving at the bivouac after spending the night on the dunes.

Cyril Despres and Marc Coma are in a league of their own.( Luckily, there are two of them! Seeing a champion flaunt his superiority in a certain discipline can give rise to either boredom or admiration.  Over the last few years, the world of rally raid has been fortunate enough to have two amazing riders who hog the most important race of the year: Despres and Coma.

These two pilots, the fastest and most consistent of all, have taken turns winning the last six editions. After 4,563 km (including 1,632 km of specials), it seems like the race will be decided between them in Lima, unless their struggle ends up scuttling the chances of both of them.

Right now, Despres has a margin of 7'48" over his teammate and rival. This is by no means enough for the Frenchman to rest on his laurels, although he has the advantage of being able to mark Coma while not taking too many risks. If he wants to win, the defending champion has no choice but to launch attack after attack – something he is very, very good at. 

The first week was especially selective among those who were supposed to make things difficult for Despres and Coma, all of whom openly admit that they are racing for a podium place.  Certain riders expected to be vying for glory had to quit early: Jakub Przygonski had an engine breakdown during stage 3, in which Quinn Cody suffered a broken clavicle. Francisco "Chaleco" López, the only rider to win a special apart from Despres and Coma, tore the cruciate ligaments of his right knee at the beginning of the first Chilean stage, which he still managed to finish. But Copiapó is the end of the road for him.  

Other ambitious riders have cracked, including Frans Verhoeven (26th, 3 h 16' behind Despres) and Alain Duclos (105th, 16 h 30' back). On the other hand, Lady Luck has smiled on Hélder Rodrigues and his Yamaha, who now sit just behind the duo of favourites, 49'39" back. Only another Portuguese rider, Paulo Gonçalves, is less than an hour behind the leader.  Among those making their debut, Brazil's Felipe Zanol (16th) lies ahead of Johnny Aubert (24th), while the classification of those riding without assistance is led by Hugo Payen (82th), just like last year. Only one of the two ladies registered for the 2012 race, Laia Sanz (51th) can still make it to Lima. She could also improve on last year's classification (45th).