Dakar 2012, Stage 8
Copiapo - Antofagasta
722 km in total, 477 km special test
Full throttle - but not without problems
Stage eight of the Dakar 2012 saw mixed results for the
Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain. Joan Barreda was
fighting for another podium finish before ending the day in
fourth. Paulo Goncalves meanwhile had a difficult stage.
Lying fourth overall in the morning, the Portuguese lost
one place. He was finally content to complete today´s race
at all.
The stage was fast and dangerous, often full throttle and
sometimes really tricky. Former race leader Cyril Despres
and Goncalves became victims of a mudhole that was not
marked in the roadbook. Both got stuck.
Goncalves generously helped Despres out of the mess, and
the Frenchman promptly sped away. Goncalves was then
assisted by the race director.
The incident costed a lot of time, which was handed back to
Goncalves afterwards. But more bad luck occurred, when he
hit a stone one kilometre from the finish line. Goncalves
had to push his bike to the finish with a damaged
drivetrain. Quite lucky under the circumstances, he
"only" lost 24 minutes on Marc Coma, who won the
stage. Goncalves dropped back to fifth overall. But on a
day when it was important to finish, he did just that.
Joan Barreda avoided the mudhole and was going for a top
three result. He just missed out, as Ruben Faria and Helder
Rodrigues got the better end. Barreda lost valuable time
and a precious podium riding in the dust of Stefan Svitko
and Juan Pedrero. Good: the Spaniard rode smart and didn´t
take too many risks.
Zé Hélio also suffered at the mudhole and lost almost one
hour. Discussions are going on whether to credit him lost
time. Jose Manuel Pellicer keeps improving. He´s sitting
right behind his teammates in 25th.
Tuesday brings the longest special of the rally. Canyons,
loose sand and 556 kilometres of special test await the
riders. The stage ends with a georgeous descent to the
Pacific Ocean at Iquique.
1. Marc Coma (SPA) KTM, 5:03:52 hrs
2. Ruben Faria (POR) KTM, 7:00 min behind
3. Helder Rodrigues (POR) Yamaha, 7:10
4. Joan Barreda (SPA) Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain,
8:44
5. Stefan Svitko (SVK) KTM, 9:09
16. Paulo Goncalves (POR) Husqvarna Rallye Team by
Speedbrain, 24:26
23. Jose Manuel Pellicer (SPA) Husqvarna Rallye Team by
Speedbrain, 34:34
37. Zé Hélio (BRA) Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain,
56:49
Overall standings
1. Coma, 23:24:18 hrs
2. Cyril Despres (FRA) KTM, 1:26 behind
3. Rodrigues (POR) Yamaha, 49:01
4. David Casteu (FRA) Yamaha, 1:09:52
5. Paulo Goncalves (POR) Husqvarna Rallye Team by
Speedbrain, 1:12:11
23. Joan Barreda (SPA) Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain,
3:26:04
24. Zé Hélio (BRA) Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain,
3:27:51
25. Jose Manuel Pellicer (SPA) Husqvarna Rallye Team by
Speedbrain, 3:53:19
distribué par | Ce noodl a été diffusé par BMW - Bayerische Motoren Werke AG et initialement mise en ligne sur le site http://www.bmwgroup.com. La version originale est disponible ici. Ce noodl a été distribué par noodls dans son format d'origine et sans modification sur 2012-01-09 22:28:51 PM et restera accessible depuis ce lien permanent. Cette annonce est protégée par les règles du droit d'auteur et toute autre loi applicable, et son propriétaire est seul responsable de sa véracité et de son originalité. |