The French Yamaha rider finally gets a stage win, but there is little change in the overall running order as the 2014 Dakar Rally rolls into Chile.
Team Yamaha’s Cyril Despres looked like the reigning Dakar Rally motorcycle champion that he is by earning his first stage victory of the 2014 Dakar Rally, finishing ahead of the two primary combatants for this year’s motorcycle win, HRC Honda’s Joan Barreda and Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma.
Despres finished today’s marathon stage from Uyuni, Bolivia, to Calama, Chile, with a time of 5 hours, 23 minutes and 20 seconds. As a result, Despres moves up ninth in the overall standings, but he still trails Coma by 2 hours, 23 minutes and 58 seconds.
Barreda, who started first by virtue of his win in Stage 7, finished 2 minutes and 9 seconds behind Despres but only 6 seconds ahead of Coma, leaving the Barreda with one less day in the Rally to seriously cut into Coma’s overall lead, which now stands at 38 minutes and 8 seconds.
Weather conditions hampered the rally route yet again today, preventing the bikes from crossing the salt flats of Uyuni as initially planned. Despres, who started third, quickly caught Coma, and the two rode together and gradually caught Barreda. The Spaniard pressed toward the finish, but Despres was smooth and fast, and he ended up reaching the final checkpoint with a 2-minute and 10-second advantage over Barreda, while Coma, whose plan now is clearly to shadow Barreda’s every move to the end of the rally and thus mitigate any time advantages that his hard-charging countryman might enjoy, finished a mere 2 minutes and 16 seconds behind Despres.
Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues (HRC Honda) and France’s Olivier Pain (Factory Yamaha) had clean stages today and finished fourth and fifth respectively. Less fortunate were the Samsung Sherco riders: Alain Duclos lost almost 35 minutes with a mechanical problem at the start of the stage, while his teammate Juan Pedrero lost 14 minutes and 25 seconds.
As a result of Duclos’ setback, he is now 21 minutes and 47 seconds behind KTM’s Jordi Viladoms in the battle for the final podium spot and has now fallen to within striking distance of Speedbrain’s Jeremias Israel, who sits fifth, just 2 minutes and 56 seconds behind Duclos.
Stage 9 tomorrow from Calama to Iquique will feature another long special test, totaling 422 kilometers with only 29 kilometers of transfer sections. The Rally will reach its most northern point in Iquique, where the competitors will see the ocean for the first time. The drivers and teams will then have to navigate the Atacama Dunes, which is expected to be a real challenge and could result in an upheaval in the overall standings. Dune specialists will certainly have an advantage over a distance of almost 150 kilometers, and the final descent to Iquique could be hazardous, as there is more than a 30% grade from start to finish.
2014 Dakar Rally
Stage 8
Uyuni, Bolivia-Calama, Chile
Results: January 13, 2014
1. Cyril Despres-Yam/05:23:20
2. Joan Barreda-Hon/+00:02:09
3. Marc Coma-KTM/+00:02:15
4. Helder Rodrigues-Hon/+00:06:38
5. Olivier Pain-Yam/+00:10:40
6. Michael Metge-Yam/+00:12:58
7. Riaan Van Niekerk-KTM/+00:13:15
8. Daniel Gouet-Hon/+00:13:23
9. Kuba Pryzgonski-KTM/+00:13:29
10. Jordi Viladoms-KTM/+00:13:34
Dakar Rally Standings (After Stage 8 of 13)
1. Marc Coma-KTM/32:06:19
2. Juan Barreda-Hon/+00/38:08
3. Jordi Viladoms-KTM/+01:27:22
4. Alain Duclos-She/+01:49:09
5. Jeremias Israel-Spe/+01:52:05
6. Olivier Pain-Yam/+01:59:07
7. Kuba Pryzgonski-KTM/+02:06:06
8. Helder Rodrigues-Hon/+02:12:41
9. David Casteu-KTM/+02:48:49
10. Cyril Despres-Yam/+02:23:58
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