Dakar Rally, Stage 5, Chilecito to Fiambala
Dakar Rally Media - Jan 10, 2012

Cyril Despres's 28th stage victory on the Dakar has allowed him to increase his lead over Marc Coma in the general standings. The competition is struggling to keep up with the two champions.

As the saying goes, two's a company, three's a crowd, and the Dakar seems to prefer duos.

Between Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, the battles are always intense. Their virtuosity behind the handlebars is starting to significantly distance them from their challengers. The bad weather conditions that forced the organizers to shorten the day's special also prevented Despres from making a genuine breakaway in the dunes near Fiambala. However, he was able to add 1'41” to his lead over Coma, by triumphing after 185 kilometres of tracks and riverbeds, which he mostly tackled just behind his rival and, nonetheless, team-mate.

In the general standings, the distance of 9'50” at which the titleholder finds himself is not an insurmountable obstacle, bearing in mind that Coma is capable of resounding feats. Behind the duo, the gap is imposing, however, and is growing every day by approximately ten minutes.

Coma remains optimistic: “It was another hard and complicated stage: the mythical Fiambala stage. The special was a bit shorter than planned. In physical terms, that's good, but for me, the more distance there is, the more difficulties there are, the more likely something may happen and the more opportunities might come my way. I made a small mistake and I'm paying for it. But I'm still here and still aiming to win. With the Atacama, it's a new race that begins. We'll see what happens.”

Frans Verhoeven, who had managed to stay at a pace almost comparable to the two leading men, only lasted around fifty kilometres before stopping due to mechanical problems. The Dutchman was able to resume the race, but the time lost has probably damaged his objective of a Top 5 finish.  

For the moment, Helder Rodrigues remains the most regular pursuer, but is still 47 minutes behind. Having managed to hang in there after a catastrophic stage yesterday, According to Rodriques: “It's a difficult Dakar. I'm feeling a bit tired, but everybody is in the same situation. I've had a lot of little problems with the bike and things aren't going as well as I would have liked. But I'm still here and I've not suffered. I'm third in the general standings. I'm on top form and I can go on the attack when I want, and that's what I'm going to do, because now another part of the Dakar begins. I want to go head to head with the leading two. 

Joan Barreda still has the profile of a possible special stage winner: he has shown once again, by achieving the day's 3rd best time, that his efforts pay off occasionally. The same is also true for Stefan Svitko, who finished 4th on the special stage, 13'05” behind Despres.