Helder Rodrigues wins Stage 9 of the Dakar Rally, but Paulo Goncalves is keeping the pressure on Marc Coma in the battle for the overall win.
After a horrible Stage 8 in which he lost more than 3 hours to the overall leader in the Dakar Rally, Team HRC’s Helder Rodrigues rode like he had nothing to lose in Stage 9 today, and he didn’t lose.
The Portuguese rider pretty much dominated the 450-kilometer special stage from Iquique to Calama in Chile, overcoming what began as a four-rider Honda battle at the front of the field that included Jeremias Israel, Paulo Goncalves and Javier Pizzolito. Israel led the way through the first two checkpoints before Rodrigues took over and distanced himself from the pack with fast riding and savvy navigation to complete the stage with a time of 5 hours, 6 minutes and 14 seconds.
“The stage was great,” Rodgrigues said. “In the beginning there was a lot of sand. I pushed a lot at the beginning and had to concentrate a lot to navigate well. At refuelling I saw I had got a good time. The result today is a possible win for me. I pushed a little bit, then I saw Paulo catch up with me. I waited a little bit so I didn’t kick up too much dust for him, so he passed me, but then he got lost. I found the way point first, and I finished here with a good time. Yesterday was very hard for us, and today was just fun, and the aim was to just get to the finish. The stage was very hard, but compared to yesterday it was nothing.”
Israel would run into trouble and drop off the pace, but Goncalves had another good day in the rally, finishing the stage 3 minutes and 51 seconds behind Rodrigues and practically cutting rally leader Marc Coma’s advantage in half by shaving 4 minutes and 42 seconds from the overall leader. Goncalves is continuing to keep the pressure on the defending Dakar Rally Champion for the time being.
“For me, it’s like before,” Goncalves said. “I’m here to give my best, to fight day-by-day. Today, it was a really difficult stage again. I started pushing from the beginning. In the middle of the stage I missed a way point, and so I turned back to find it. I lost some time there, but after I started pushing again. In the end I finished well, and I recovered some time from yesterday. So now I’m second overall, but this is not really important because we have four days more in front of us to race. Many things can happen. I will try, and I will keep fighting, me and team HRC, to get the best overall position possible. Like I say, many things can happen, but for me it’s not additional pressure. I will ride day by day like I have done from the beginning, so we’ll always keep fighting. The strategy is to try and keep the bike safe, only that.”
Coma enjoyed another calm, cool and collected stage in the rally, and although his third-place time was 7 minutes and 334 seconds off the pace, the wily veteran was secure in the knowledge that he still holds a lead over Goncalves and has stretched the gap over fellow KTM riders Pablo Quintanilla and Toby Price. Both men had a tough stage today, with Price finishing ninth, 23 minutes and 9 seconds behind Rodrigues while Quintanilla finished 10th, another 6 seconds behind Price.
“Today it was not easy in the morning,” Coma said. “It was foggy, and I made a small navigation mistake. Then I had to push during the whole stage to come back to my rhythm. It was a good day after a tough day like yesterday, so today was a better day. At the moment, everything is still far off, so we’re looking at the next day only, and we will see. There’s a long way still in front of us, so we’ll take it step by step.”
With his hopes for the rally win lost, Joan Barreda kept his head up today and finished the stage in fourth place, 19 minutes and 47 seconds behind Gonçalves. Pizzolito and Stefan Svitko were fifth and sixth respectively.
Female Team HRC Honda rider Laia Sanz struggled today, finishing 14tt, 42 minutes and 20 seconds behind her teammate Rodrigues, although Sanz is still proudly inside the top 10 overall in the rally. Currently running eighth, she is the only other factory Honda rider besides Goncalves still in the top 10.
The consistent-riding Alain Duclos of France struggled mightily in today’s stage, stopping to make repairs to his Sherco and losing a lot of time. Duclos was reportedly unsure that he would be able to continue in the rally tomorrow.
2015 Dakar Rally
Stage 9
Iquique-Calamam, Chile
Results: January 13, 2015
1. Helder Rodrigues (PRT)-Hon/5 hours, 6 minutes, 14 seconds
2. Paulo Goncalves (PRT)-Hon/+00:03:51
3. Marc Coma (ESP)-KTM/+00:07:34
4. Juan Barreda (ESP)-Hon/+00:19:47
5. Javier Pizzolito (ARG)-Hon/+00:20:07
6. Stefan Svitko (SVK)-KTM/+00:21:40
7. Matthias Walkner (AUT)-KTM/+00:22:02
8. Toby Price (AUS)-KTM/+00:23:09
9. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL)-KTM/+00:23:15
10. Olivier Pain (FRA)-Yam/+00:28:09
2015 Dakar Rally Standings (After 9 of 13 stages)
1. Marc Coma (ESP)-KTM/34 hours, 5 minutes
2. Paulo Goncalves (PRT)-Hon/+00:05:28
3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL)-KTM/+00:26:52
4. Toby Price (AUS)-KTM/+00:31:31
5. Stefan Svitko (SVK)-KTM/+00:40:36
6. Ruben Faria (PRT)-KTM/+01:01:22
7. David Casteu (FRA)-KTM/+01:31:26
8. Laia Sanz (ESP)-Hon/+01:54:37
9. Ivan Jakes (SVK)-KTM/+02:18:31
10. Olivier Pain (FRA)-Yam/+02:36:13
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