Maragni M. KTM Images
Yesterday’s rest day marked the end of Dakar’s first week and a turning point in the race to Santiago. Hit the jump for a bunch of amazing photos, results from today’s stage and a brief recap of last week.
Recap:
This years Dakar has proved to be just as eventful as expected with new cars, new teams and new struggles for all the competitors.
© Red Bull Media House
Probably the biggest news of last week, as far as the favorites are concerned, was the withdrawal of Carlos Sainz after suffering critical engine troubles halfway through stage 6. Sainz withdrawal left Al-Attiyah as the Qatar Red Bull Rally Team’s only driver. Al-Attiyah kept up his typical aggressive style through out the week, hounding Peterhansel until Saturday’s rain soaked stage where he ran into trouble. Luckily for Al-Attiyah the neutralization of the stage results by A.S.O. officials limited the damage.
Al-Attiyah stuck in a hole. (NBC’s video doesn’t play nice with our site so a link is all you get, sorry)
Courtesy: Maindru Photo/Toyo Tires
Robby Gordon continues his tradition of racing back from nearly debilitation bad luck. After getting stuck and rolling the Speed Energy/TOYO TIres/Mapei HUMMER in the early stages Gordon, in typical fashion, has fought back and finished on or near the podium in every stage since. Unfortunately, he is well down the order and probably out of the running for a top overall finish.
Image Courtesy: X-Raid.de
If there is a French version of the metronome it’s probably called the Peterhansel. The ten time Dakar winning legend continues to simply deliver in a metered and efficient fashion. A lack of mistakes and a reserved style have put Peterhansel at or near the top positions on every stage. He’s dictated the pace of the rally and his competitors have been on the back foot since the first stage.
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While the cars have been dominated by the usual suspects the motorcycle results have had a couple of surprises. With Marc Coma out of the rally due to injury, many thought that it would be a shoe in for French superstar Cyril Despres. This hasn’t been the case. Yamaha’s Olivier Pain held the overall top spot for the entire week with individual stage wins going to Lopez, Casteu, Barreda, and a surprise win by American, Kurt Caselli on stage 7.
Tragedy on the Dakar:
Sadly, it hasn’t all be sunshine and happy times. Two spectators were killed when Peruvian taxi collided with a Dakar team support vehicle on the 9th of January. A Dakar competitor, Thomas Bourgin, was also killed when his motorcycle collided with a Chilean police car during stage 7’s morning liason.
Today’s Results:
Cars:
Image Courtesy: X-Raid.de
Nani Roma collected the stage win with Peterhansel close behind. Al-Attiyah had a number of problems with the terrain today, reports are that he got stuck numerous times and as of this writing he isn’t showing up on the official time sheets. We’ll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings for the former Dakar winner.
Meanwhile, Robby Gordon continues his string of solid finishes with a fourth on the stage. That brings him up to 19th overall but the fact that he is nearly six hours behind means that there is little hope for a great result.
Motorcycles:
Despres finally came good and took today’s stage win by a convincing 4:03 over the Husqvarna riders of Barreda and Botturi (pictured). Yamaha riders Pain and Casteu suffered on the 593km of today’s special stage. Casteu had an exciting crash filled moment avoiding a cow and as a result lost a half hour and his ability to continue the rally remains in question.
Today’s mishaps move Ruben Faria into the top spot overall with Despres in second place, only five minutes behind. Chilean hero Francisco Lopez rounds out the overall podium for the bikes.
Stage 9 Tucuman-Cordoba
Last but definitely not least, I thought I’d throw in a couple more photos just because they look great.
Maragni M. KTM Images
© Red Bull Media House
© Red Bull Media House