Stage 4 of the 2014 Dakar Rally continued to surprise as the favorites struggled during the second half of a marathon stage. HIt the jump for some pics and video.
The overall lead of the 2014 Rally Dakar changed today as the former leader, Nani Roma, suffered with navigational problems and fell to 5th overall. Carlos Sainz took the win on the day and he moves into the overall lead six minutes ahead of a chasing horde that is the X-Raid MINI team.
Robbie Gordon continued to improve finishing 14th and moving up to 31st overall. Gordon was running strong until the last few kilometers when he lost some time due to vapor lock issues. As usual, Robbie Gordon’s Dakar will probably be a question of what might have been but if history is any lesson I’m sure he’ll put in at least a few impressive days before the end of the 2014 Dakar Rally.
In the bikes Barreda managed to fend off a charging Marc Coma, despite a crash and some navigational issues, to retain his first place position.
Coma flew through the technical course while most of his rivals suffered. Despres lost 40 minutes when his bike had electrical problems and it is hard to image that the defending champion will be able to make up that time over the next week. Stranger things have happened though and if Dakar is anything it’s unpredictable.
As always, we have a quick video review and gallery of impressive images.
For more about the 2014 Dakar Rally check out the official site: www.dakar.com.
