Welcome rest day in Chile for KTM's Dakar Stars
After seven days hard riding the four KTM factory riders are resting up in Valparaiso on the Chilean coast before tackling the remaining six days of racing.
Riders still have plenty to occupy themselves during the day off and to prepare for the second half of the race. The first week of this South American Dakar was supposed to be a ‘gentle' warm up but has turned out to be as tough as any ‘African' Dakar that has gone before it. And it is certain that next week is going to be even tougher…
Also in the bivouac having a well earned rest was quad No 275 Camelia Liparoti who arrived last night at 2:00 a.m. After three more eventful days she is still in the race, if trailing the rest of the field.
Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) 1st overall
When people back home watch us on television and see the towns we pass through, the bivouacs we are sleeping in, I think they might get the wrong impression. Obviously the living conditions in South America are easier than in Africa, but let me tell you, out on the piste the Dakar spirit is very much there. It has been an extremely tough week - at least as hard as any other Dakar I have done before. My week has gone reasonably well, and for sure I am happy to be in the lead, but the situation with the rear mousse has been a big additional stress. All we can try and do is make the best choice for the day ahead and hope that it is the right one. I have been lucky that Jordi (Viladoms) and Gerard (Farres) have been so close behind me and that has helped reduce the problem - but for sure it is always in the back of my mind. The restart will see us heading into the Chilean desert and I am sure it will be very beautiful. I am also sure it will be very hard. Physically I feel st rong and I think I am going to need all that strength!
Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) 5th overall (at 1h35'23)
It looks like Jordi (Viladoms) is going to get a 20 minute time penalty which means I will move up to fifth overall. That means that in one week I have moved up 17 places - though obviously the closer you get to the lead the harder those places are to take! Clearly in terms of pure speed Marc and I are pretty evenly matched, but the Dakar is an endurance race and we have seen before that anything can happen. Here in South American with the mousse ‘surprises' and the fact that we know the terrain much less that is even more the case. It is why I remain convinced that I still have a chance of final victory and why I will keep pushing all the way to the end. We haven't yet received tomorrow's road book, but looking at the profile of the stages to come it would seem that the next six days are going to be even tougher. The harder they are the better my chances of being able to pull back time.
Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) 7th overall (at 1h44'19)
In the last couple of years support riders haven't played too important a role and many said that they were no longer necessary. Now we see that they can make a big difference and it makes me feel good about the job. Although it is Marc who is out in front I have the feeling of satisfaction of having contributed to that situation. The fact that Marc and I are not just team mates, but also friends make this feeling even more special. For sure next week will be difficult and I will have to stay really concentrated on my job to make sure things go as well as possible.
Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) 81st overall (at 12h32'19)
This is my first Dakar as a factory rider and I have to say it hasn't been an easy debut. The first day I melted my mousse, the second day a fuel line broke and I ran out of petrol and on the third day, while I was pushing to get to Cyril and give him my wheel, I had a big crash and hurt my back - which is still giving me problems. It has been difficult but I have learnt a lot and now I will restart with the aim of finishing in the top 10 and as close to Cyril as possible.
Camelia Liparoti (KTM Quad)
On stage 5 I came to the dunes in the night after 5 punctures and it was raining. I decided to try and get across them but then my GPS broke so I followed a truck - which turned out to be as lost as I was! I eventually made into the bivouac at 3 in the morning. The next day we started in the dunes again and I sailed through with no problems - my bike is perfect for those kind of conditions - and I made it into the bivouac in daylight! Yesterday's stage also started well in the sandy pistes, but afterwards there was a very long liaison on the road and I started to fall asleep. I ended up stopping by the side of the road and doing stretching exercises to try and keep awake! Finally I arrived in Valparaiso at 2 in the morning. Now I am looking forward to the rest of the rally. Everybody says it will be hard in the dunes but I think for me and my quad it will be easier than before. We go really well in the sand - it is the tarmac and the stony pistes that are difficult!
A relatively easy Stage Eight
Riders on Sunday tackle the journey from Valparaiso to La Serena following the Chilean coastline northwards. It should be a day for the top riders to shine over medium altitude mountain roads, the highest altitude to be just over 1000 m.
KTM rider Lopez enjoys home country victory as Dakar Rally reaches Chile
Francisco Lopez led in KTM factory riders Marc Coma and Cyril Despres to celebrate victory in Stage Seven of the 2009 Dakar before his home country fans.
It was fitting that Lopez should win the special which he did 3.57 ahead of Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) the overal header at the halfway mark of the world's toughest rally.
Coma's arch rival Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) was third at 5'21 while the other two in the KTM factory rider stable, Jordi Viladoms and Alain Duclos were tenth (at 18'28) and twentieth (at 33'26) respectively. Overall Marc is still ‘comfortably' in the lead 51'22 ahead of KTM rider American Jonah Street with Frétigné just behind at 52'31. Viladoms is now fifth (at 1h24'19) while Cyril again moves up one place to sixth (at 1h35'23).
Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) 2nd (at 3'57) 1st overall
The special was short but not so easy. The first part was fun to ride in the sand - very bumpy and quite physical. Then it got really muddy with water everywhere - not conditions particularly suited to rally bikes - I think the organisers were right to cut the length. Now we have the rest day and a chance to prepare ourselves for the second week of the race, which I think will be completely different to what we have had so far. We will have the dunes in the north of Chile and I think it is going to be very hard. If you look at the time sheets it looks quite good for me, but I think they only tell half the story.
Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) 3rd (at 5'21) 6th overall (at 1h35'23)
I have to say I am not too unhappy with my day. As I started first this morning it was logical that Marc should catch me and I was sure that Lopez would go flat out to win the first stage into Chile - something he richly deserves! What really makes me happy is that I have once again gained a place in the overall rankings. Looking above me I can see that Jordi (Viladoms) and Ullevalseter are within my sights and then I ‘only' have Frétigné and Street till I get up behind Marc. Personally I would prefer to keep racing and forget about the rest day as I don't have any injuries and am feeling fit and motivated and hopeful that the second part of the race will bring a few pleasant surprises.
Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) 10th (at 18'28) 5th overall (at 1h24'01)
I took a lot of care not to damage the rear tyre and never went over 145 kph - and in spite of all that, the mousse started to melt about 10 kilometres from the end. I just made it to the finish line - if it had been one kilometre further I think I would have had to stop before the end to put a tube in.
Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) 20th (at 33'26) 82nd overall (at 12h32'19)
The first part of the special was like riding Le Touquet and the second part was fast but as I couldn't go over 140 kph it wasn't much fun. The good news is that my back is starting to feel better and after the rest day I should be in better shape to help Cyril.
Having now reached the Chilean coast, riders will have a rest day on Saturday before launching their bids for the eventual podium places in the second half of the rally.
Provisional results after seventh stage
1. Francisco Lopez, Chile, KTM
2. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
3. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
4. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha 2.
5. David Casteu, France, KTM
6. Frans Verhofen, Netherlands, KTM
7. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM
8. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
9. Jose Helio Rodrigues Filho, Honda, Brazil
10. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
20. Alain Duclos, France, KTM
Provisional overall standings
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
3 David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
4. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM
5. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
6. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
7. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, KTM
8. Frans Verhofen, Netherlands, KTM
9. David Casteu, France, KTM
10. Francisco Lopez, Chile, KTM
82. Alain Duclos, France, KTM
Go to www.dakar.com for full results
Cyril Despres takes first stage victory in Dakar 2009
Photo by C. Barreira
The KTM factory rider and 2007 Dakar winner at last had a trouble free day. He started at eighth in today's sixth stage with the Frenchman showing his classic skills to be the quickest over the dunes that launched it.
Indeed today the KTM factory riders were back where they are used to being - at the top of the leader board. Despres (Red Bull KTM) won his first stage of the 2009 edition 2'09 ahead of Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) with team mate Jordi Viladoms third (at 5'15). Alain Duclos was 18th (at 22'04). Overall Cyril takes a tiny bit of time back from Marc, who now leads Jonah Street (KTM) by 40'29, with the Frenchman Frétigné third at 47'30. Jordi Viladoms is fourth at 1h09'48 while Cyril moves up another place to seventh (at 1h33'59)
Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) first and seventh overall (at 1h33'59)
A good ‘normal' day of rally-raid. I didn't set out especially to win the stage, nor did I ride particularly hard, but being a short day I could ride normally on the mousse without having to worry about it too much. We started off in the same dunes that we finished in yesterday - except after last night's storm they were completely different, dark grey in colour with a black line where your wheel had been. I overtook Rodrigues, then Frétigné and Casteu, and by the time I came out of the dunes there were just three tracks in front. Eventually they was just one and seeing the amount of slide, how hard the rider in front of me was attacking, I was pretty sure it was Lopez. I guessed right, as I finished just behind him at the line.
Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) second (at 2'09) first overall
Coming into Mendoza was just crazy - for the last 20 kilometres there were thousands and thousands of people each side of the road. They are very friendly and knew who each rider was. Today the dunes were easier than yesterday because when they are wet they hold the weight of the bike better. Then after the dunes it was just a short, fast piste to the end of the special (cut short by the organisers after last night's storm). The only thing you had to watch out for was the puddles, some of which were quite deep. Once again my strategy was to stay out of trouble and preserve my lead - so from that point of view everything went fine.
Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) 3rd (at 5'15) 4th overall (at 1h09'48)
After the rain the dunes were a little like a big moto-x track and fun to ride - all in all a pretty easy day. Then on the liaison I melted my mousse and had to stop and fit a tube - which I did all by myself! Fortunately there weren't too many people around. If it had happened near the town I don't know what I would have done - I would have been impossible to do anything with so many people.
Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) 18th (at 22'04) 54th overall (at 12h02'50)
Once again today I was obliged to ride with pain killers. I thought my back would be better after a couple of days, but unfortunately it isn't the case. I will have to go and see the doctors again tonight.
Shortened Stage Six
Organisers decided to reduce the distance of the timed section on Stage Six following a very tough Stage Five and complications caused by a flooded river ford on the original course. Competitors therefore ended in the village of La Junta at the foot of the Andes.
Competitors to cross into Chile in Stage Seven
Stage Seven, which brings the riders half way in their quest to conquer the first ever Dakar race held in south America takes riders from Ruiders Mendoza in Argentina down to the sea at Valparaiso on the Chilean coastline. It will be a day of challenges that starts with the "fesh fesh" a series of dunes very like the sands of the Sahara before rising to 3,000 m in the Andes during the technical routes.
Photo by T. Papp
Provisional results after sixth stage
1. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
2. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
3. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
4. Francisco Lopez, Chile, KTM
5. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
6. David Casteu, France, KTM
7. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, KTM
8. Frans Verhofen, Netherlands, KTM
9. Henk Knuiman, Netherlands, KTM
10. Thomas Berglund, Sweden, KTM
18. Alain Duclos, France, KTM
Provisional overall standings
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
3 David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
4 Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
5 Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM
6 Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, KTM
7 Cyril Despres, France, KTM
8 Frans Verhofen, Netherlands, KTM
9. David Casteu, France, KTM
10. Henk Knuiman, Netherlands, KTM
54. Alain Duclos, France, KTM
Go to www.dakar.com for results
American Jonah Street shines in Stage Five on KTM
Photo by D Castilho
Young American Jonah Street crowned an impressive couple of days with his first Dakar stage win 5'53 ahead of Frans Verhoeven and 7'34 in front of the Chilean Lopez.
Running into more tyre problems, the first KTM factory rider home was Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) (eighth at 14'46) just ahead of Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) (ninth at 15'45) with Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) just behind them at 26'30. Despite losing time on the stage to the second placed man, Marc Coma maintains his overall 27'12 ahead of Street with David Fretigne third (at 39'09). Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) is fifth (at 1h06'42) with Cyril Despres tenth (at 1'36'08).
Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) eighth (at 14'46) tenth overall (at 1h36'08)
I came past Marc (Coma) early on when he was stopped for a puncture and from there to km 300 I opened the piste until it was my turn to get the spanners out. Of course once you have punctured you have to take it really easy as you don't have a second chance. I am getting quite good now at swapping tubes and managed to get going again in just 17 minutes. Although I can't say it was the best day's racing I have ever had I am nevertheless pleased to have been able to pull a little bit of time back on Marc. Plus the stage was how I like it - pretty tough and very varied. I think the amateur riders are going to really struggle..
Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) ninth (at 15'45) first overall
I was riding very slowly in the stony ground but I still got a puncture just 60 kilometres after the start. Jordi (Viladoms) started 10 minutes behind me this morning, and I knew he would be along soon, so I took my wheel out and starting repairing it while I waited. When he came along we quickly swapped wheels and off I went again. In all I lost no more than 12 minutes or so. Then just before the dunes at the end I lost the rear brake and that made tackling them a bit difficult and cost me a little more time.
Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) tenth (at 14'46) fifth overall (at 1h06'42)
I stopped for Marc but fortunately Gerard Farres stopped for me! The only problem then was to overtake all the riders who had come past me while I was waiting for him. Overall it was a pretty tough special - both physically and mentally. It was pretty long and the navigation was not so easy at the end.
Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) Still out at time of filing - will be updated
Not a great day. I punctured at km 80. Then at km 200 the Sentinel alarm system fell off and got stuck between the fork tubes causing me to crash. Finally towards the end of the special the front mousse started to go soft and I felt every stone I rode over.
Stage Six
Riders travel from San Rafael to Mendoza in the next stage with a 395 km special kicking off with 60 km of dunes spiked in the second part with a wide ford crossing. This stage brushes the foothills of the Andes mountain range.
Provisional results after 5th stage
1. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
2. Frans Verhofen, Netherlands, KTM
3. Francisco Lopez, Chile, KTM
4. David Casteu, France, KTM
5. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, KTM
6. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
7. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM
8. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
9. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
10. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
Provisional overall standings
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
3. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
4. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM
5. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
6. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, KTM
7. Frans Verhofen, Netherlands, KTM
8. David Casteu, France, KTM
9. Henk Knuiman, Netherlands, KTM
10. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
Photo by D Castilho
Victory on the fourth stage went once again to Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) 1'17 ahead of Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) with the American Jonah Street (KTM) third (at 1'21).Overall Marc increases his lead to 42'57 ahead of new second place man Street with Fretigne third (at 43'42). Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) is fourth (at 55'57) with Cyril moving up to 11th (at 1h37'07). After yesterday's crash Alain Duclos went better today to finish 16th on the special 26'44 behind the winner.
Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) 1st and 1st overall
After three very fast days the race changed pace today with the terrain being more varied and technical. We still haven't seen any dunes yet but the tracks were sandy and a pleasure to ride. My goal today was just to ride at a steady pace and maintain my lead. I opted to use a mousse but Jordi was right behind me with a tube so it wasn't too much stress.
Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) 2nd (at 1'17) 11th overall (at 1h37'07)
I can't tell you what a pleasure it was to have a trouble free run. The tracks were really nice and I even managed to forget how far behind I am overall. I started in 47th place this morning and overtook about 40 bikes, and obviously that takes a little time, so to finish just behind Marc isn't too bad. Now we have to work at getting some time back. I am perhaps the only person in the bivouac who believes I can still win - but it was pretty much like that in 2007 and that it didn't work out too badly!
Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) 6th (at 8'40) 4th overall (at 55'57)
I didn't push too much today, just rode my own race. The terrain was fun and I enjoyed myself - all I had to do was make sure I stayed out of trouble, didn't puncture my tube and be there for Marc if he needed me.
Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) 16th (at 26'44)
I slept last night in the medical tent and although I felt stiff this morning I decided to try and ride. In the end I was glad I did. I couldn't sit down and wasn't too strong in right hand corners but I could ride ok and didn't finish too badly. It don't think I will be 100% tomorrow but the good news is that I will start in the good group and won't have to eat too much dust.
Provisional results after 4th stage
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
3. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
4. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
5. Francisco Lopez, Chile, KTM
6. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
16. Alain Duclos, France, KTM
Provisional overall standings
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
3. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
4. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
5. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM
11. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
110. Alain Duclos, France, KTM
Find the official results on www.dakar.com
Coma and Viladoms crossing the final finishing line together on stage 3
The long stage from Puerto Madryn to Jacobacci smiled on the Repsol KTM team with Marc Coma and Jordi Viladoms crossing the final finishing line together ahead of their rivals.
Less fortunate was their KTM team mate Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) who again suffered tyre problems and had to wait for his support rider Alain Duclos to ‘lend' him his rear wheel.
Marc Coma (Repsol KTM)
It was a good day for us. I started in 17th place but fortunately there was a lot of wind so dust wasn't a problem. The biggest challenge was finding the right compromise between preserving the tyre and maintaining a good speed. Once again today we opted for a tube. It is a very difficult decision to make because nobody has much experience of riding here, but for this stage at least it seemed like the right choice. Tonight we will again have a good look at our road book before making any decisions for the fourth stage. Here we can only make tactics day by day.
Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM)
I started fourth this morning and took it easy to let Marc (Coma) catch me up. Then I was able to follow him and the time I lost waiting I made up for in his ‘slipstream'. It is a little scary riding with the tube you have to be always looking out for stones and over the first part there was a lot o them. Later on the piste became much smoother and we could open the throttle a bit more.
Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM)
Before CP1 everything was going well and I was thinking I had made the right choice running a mousse. But by the time I got to the first refuelling the tyre was starting to go soft so I thought I would take advantage of the 15 minute stop to put a tube in. The problem was that when I stopped the mousse swelled up and I couldn't get the tyre off. In the process of trying I damaged the bead and so on leaving the refuelling I was convinced I would be on the rim in 20 kilometres. In fact, by taking it easy I managed to get to CP2. I found out there that Alain (Duclos) wasn't too far behind so I decided to wait for him. In all I lost 50 minutes between CP1 and CP2 and another 10 minutes waiting at CP2 which explains why I am down 1.5 hours overall this evening. It is starting to be a lot…
Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM)
When I got to CP1 I heard that Cyril was having trouble with his mousse so I rode hard from there not to keep him waiting. Unfortunately I was in too much of a rush and went over the bars at about 80 kph - and it hurt. When I got to CP2 Cyril was waiting and so I handed over my wheel. He told me not to go over 80 kph so I took it easy til the end. I almost made it to the bivouac but 35 kms from home the mousse came out of the tyre and I had to finish on the rim.
Provisional results after 3rd stage
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM
3. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
4. David Casteu, France, KTM
5. Guell Farres, Spain, KTM
47. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
71. Alain Duclos, France, KTM
Provisional overall standings
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
3. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM
4. Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM
5. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
6. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
21. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
23rd place for KTM ATV rider Camelia Liparoti at 3rd stage, 23rd place overall.
Find the official results on www.dakar.com
Marc Coma still overall leader after stage 2
Photo by D Castilho
Over the second short stage victory went to Frans Verhoeven (KTM) 0'41 ahead of Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) with David Fretigne third (at 1'04).
Despite running into problems with his oil cooler, Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) maintains his overall lead 13'47 ahead of Verhoeven with Fretigne third (at 16'51). Enjoying a better run than yesterday, Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) moves up from 20th to 11th overall (at 29'28) just ahead of Cyril Despres (at 30'02).
Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) 2nd (at 0'41) 12th overall (at 30'02)
Despite the dust on the first part of the stage I got past 4 or 5 riders early on and was going well until I started to feel that the rear shock wasn't working as it should be. I stopped at km 50 to have a good look and realised there was a problem with the rebound damping. Then a little later on, in the first off-piste section, I hit a small tuft of grass and was thrown up in the air and over the bars. I landed heavily and damaged the navigation gear. Not wanting to get lost in this area I quickly got on the bike and chased after the others, before carrying out further repairs once we got to the piste again. I think in all I lost about 6 or 7 minutes which is disappointing. On the other hand this evening I am only 30 minutes behind Marc and 30 minutes is much better than 40!
Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) 4th (at 1'33) 11th overall (at 29'28)
I started in 20th place and on the first part it was impossible to pass the slower riders in the dust. Then we got to the off-piste part and I was able to go a little bit faster. I thought I had finished about 10th so when I got to the bivouac and discovered I was 4th I was pretty happy. There were a few stony parts on the course and as I was riding with an inner tube I had to take it easy. Maybe I could have gone faster with a mousse, but maybe not. Each solution has its advantages and disadvantages…
Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) 17th (at 12'27) 1st overall
Everything was going normally and I was looking forward to having another good day when, at about kilometre 100, the oil cooler developed a leak - I knew straightaway ‘cos my face got covered in the stuff! I stopped to make repairs with some magic metal and then kept stopping to check the oil level and ‘borrow' oil from spectators. In the end I was just happy to get to the end. Obviously I lost some time but I am still in the lead and it could have been a lot worse. This really is the Dakar and I think every day will be eventful.
Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) 92nd (3h08'39) 184th overall (at 8h19'01)
I started almost last this morning after yesterday's misadventures and was determined to pull back some places and get out of the dust. And everything was going well until I ran out of petrol at km 101. The rear fuel pipe connector had broken and I had lost all my gas. I managed to persuade some locals to go and find me some and they came back after 15 minutes and filled me up. While I was waiting all the riders I had overtake came past me and I had to get by them all again. Here's hoping I have a better day tomorrow!
Provisional results after 2nd stage
1. Frans Verhoeven, Netherlands, KTM
2. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
3. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
4. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
5. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
17. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
92. Alain Duclos, France, KTM
Provisional overall standings
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Frans Verhoeven, Netherlands, KTM
3. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
4. Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM
5. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
11. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
12. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
21st place for KTM ATV rider Camelia Liparoti at 2nd stage, 22nd place overall, 7h7min44s behind the leader.
Find the official results on www.dakar.com
Commanding lead for Coma on first stage of Dakar
The first special of the 2009 Dakar should have been an uneventful warm-up but of the four KTM factory riders only Marc Coma made it through untroubled during the 371 kms from Buenos Aires to Santa Rosa to take a commanding lead.
The three other KTM factory riders all ran into major tyre problems. And they weren't the only ones - many riders, of all abilities and speeds, arrived at the end of the stage on ruined rubber, or in many cases, on their rims. As a result Marc Coma shares the virtual podium with some unexpected rivals. In second place (at 22'05) is Polish policeman Jacek Czachor (KTM), with Miran Stanovnik (KTM) third (at 24'42). Jordi Viladoms is back in 20th position (at 40'22) with Cyril Despres 22nd (at 41'48). At the time of writing, the fourth member of the team, Alain Duclos, is 80 kilometres from the end of the special and riding on his rim.
Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) 1st (2h46'17)
We knew it would be hard on tyres here so I elected to use an inner tube instead of a mousse on the rear. And for me at least the gamble paid off - I took it easy and didn't have any problems. But that was today, tomorrow could be a different story and instead of being 40 minutes in front I could be 40 minutes behind. I think this is going to be a very hard race - especially for the head!
Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) 20th (at 3h26'39)
Like Marc and Cyril I decided to use a tube and punctured after only 50 kilometres. It took me about 20 minutes to put a new tube in and during that time a lot of riders came past me. When I got going again the dust was crazy and I had to take a few risks to get past some slower riders and limit the damage. If it carries on like this it looks like tyres will be the referee of this race!
Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) 22nd (3h28'05)
Obviously I knew I was taking a risk starting on a tube but even now I can't say I regret my decision. I really took care, slowed down in the corners and was generally riding slower than Marc. It was just a question of bad luck. It wasn't hitting a rock that caused me to puncture it must have been a thorn or a nail. I only noticed when I came to a corner and by that time it was too late - the tyre was destroyed. I rode with it as long as I could and then eventually hard to stop and pull it off. I rode the last 80 kilometres on the rim. Now the problem is what tactic to adopt. Do I ride slowly for the rest of the race and hope the others have problems, or do I take a risk, ride hard and try and pull back the time?
The first stage ended at Santa Rosa de la Pampa after riders completed the first liason of of 196 kilometres, followed by a timed 371km stage and a second liaison of 166km, almost 400 km of very fast racing and a chance to discover the famous Pampas of Argentina. Stage two, which takes riders 837 km to Puerto Madryn in Patagonia is the longest stage in the rally and the most southern point on the more than 9000 km route through South America.
Provisional results after first stage
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM
3. Miran Stanovnik, Slovenia, KTM,
4. Frans Verhoeven, Netherlands, KTM
5. Jonah Street, USA, KTM
6. David Fretigne, France, Yamaha
7. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM
8. Henk Knuiman, Netherlands, KTM
9. Jose Helio Rodrigues Filho, Brazil, Honda
10. Olivier Pain, France, Yamaha .
Other KTM
20. Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM
22. Cyril Despres, France, KTM
