Dakar Rally, Stage 8, Copiapo to Antofagasta
Dakar Rally Media - Jan 10, 2012

Despite being the first rider on the course, Marc Coma managed to avoid the muddy trap which later caught Cyril Despres. As a result, the Catalan took his 20th stage win at the Dakar and, most importantly, seized the overall lead, where he now has a 1'26" margin over Despres.

Despres hands Coma his 20th win on a platter…Nevertheless, the 477-kilometre stage 8 between Copiapó and Antofagasta did not start well for Marc Coma, the first rider to hit the course this morning. After making a small navigation mistake in the first few kilometres, the defending champion was losing one minute... when everything changed at km 11. The Catalan, who was still riding at the front of the race, avoided a muddy río and forged ahead, while Cyril Despres fell into the trap.  

Coma described the day as: “a very long special. I was lucky not to lose too much time in the mud and then I saw I could open a gap, so I attacked really hard. But towards the end I noticed I had engine problems towards the end, so I took slowed down a bit to ensure I would make it to the finish. This is my 20th special victory: a nice figure. Yet it is not winning specials that counts, but winning the race. And I know there is still a long week of racing ahead.”

The Despres’ bike got stuck in the mud, taking Paulo Gonçalves with him... Both of them spent almost ten minutes and massive amounts of energy to get out of there. Suddenly, the path to victory had cleared for Coma. It was a chance he could not possibly miss! Aware of his rival's mishaps, the Catalan rider put the hammer down from the very beginning, until the risk of damage to his own motorcycle made him lower his pace near the finish. In the end, he bagged his 20th Dakar win (fourth one this year) with a 7'00" gap over Portugal's Ruben Faria and 8'44" over Hélder Rodrigues, another Portuguese rider.

In the best position to finish third at the finish, Rodriques said: “Everyone thought today was going to be a calm day, but it turned out to be quite difficult. There was a lot of navigational work, especially a muddy area in a río near km 11. Many riders got stuck in there, it was incredible. But I am still third in the general classification, and that is great. 

Despres also was not content with the mud trap saying: “There was a torrent of mud between the inspection of the reconnaissance car two days ago and today. Therefore, it did not appear in the road book and I was the first to fall into the trap. There was no way I could have avoided it. I am awaiting the organisers' decision: after Ullevalseter, Gonçalves and a few others had gone through, they took a detour, otherwise there would have been 200 vehicles trapped in the mud. So I fail to see why I and the others should be the only ones to pay the price. But I do not think we will let this be.”

Nevertheless, the motorcycle race officials rectified the situation after the end of the stage: given that the organisers had changed the route of today's stage after the seventh motorcycle had gone by (in order to prevent the caravan from getting stuck in the muddy río), the race directors decided to deduct the time lost by Coma, Despres, Gonçalves, Rodrigues, Farrés Güell, Ullevalseter and Casteu from their final times. As a result, Marc Coma seized the lead with a 1'26" margin over Cyril Despres. Behind them, the last podium step is still up for grabs, with Hélder Rodrigues in third place, 20'51" ahead of David Casteu, who today climbed to the fourth place. Paulo Gonçalves now sits fifth, 2'19" behind the Frenchman.