It has been eight long years since his last Dakar Rally stage victory, but the French Sherco rider showed that his consistency is no fluke with a solid Stage 6 Victory between Tucuman and Salta in Argentina, today.
France’s Alain Duclos ended an eight-year drought by winning Stage 6 of the 2014 Dakar Rally today, which ran from Tucuman to Salta, in Argentina, today.
Eight years is a long time, but there is no doubt that the consistent-riding Sherco rider has been a threat to break through and take a stage win in the 2014 Dakar Rally. Since the event left the starting line in Rosario last Sunday, Duclos has finished in the top 10 in every stage, and he vaulted to the top of the order in the 464-kilometer mountain stage from Tucuman to Salta—400 kilometers of which was a special test.
The ninth starter today, Duclos overtook five riders and closed out the day with a time of 4 hours, 21 minutes and 34 seconds, finishing 1 minute and 15 seconds ahead of Red Bull KTM factory rider Marc Coma, who maintains the overall lead with 42 minutes and 17 seconds in hand on HRC Honda’s Joan Barreda, who finished fourth today. Barreda was sandwiched between factory Yamaha riders Michael Metge, third, and Cyril Despres, fifth. If his consistency holds, Duclos has put himself in solid contention for the overall podium.
“It was a good performance since I gained 10 minutes back on Jordi Villadoms, so I could maybe finish fourth or third in the end,” Duclos said. “It would be nice if I can win the stage. I’m going to wait for Barreda to arrive and we’ll see [Duclos was speaking before the full results were known]. Today, it was my type of terrain. We’ve got over the worst over the last few days, and the rest day has arrived at the right time–it couldn’t be better timed.”
Coma is still the man to beat, however, and the Spanish rider had another strong day in the rally. After missing last year due to an injury, he is clearly back and clearly in good position to take another Dakar Rally win.
“Today we came back to a normal Dakar day, not extreme like the days before,” Coma said. “There were 15 kilometers with a lot of navigation and single tracks that were very difficult to find. The last part was long with big tracks, and I tried to push. I’m happy that we’ve arrived at the rest day because to be at the rest day is always something important. Now we’re half way. We have a nice gap out in front, but it’s easy to lose 20 minutes or pick up 20. The gaps are very big between the riders, and we have to be focused all the time. Now it’s important to enjoy the rest day because we need all the power for the second part of the rally.”
Barreda is still in contention, and just as he experienced trouble in the first half, he knows that a mistake or a motorcycle failure by Coma could put see Coma’s lead dissipate. The HRC Honda team is not even close to throwing in the towel.
“Today was good, finally,” Barreda said. “It was not easy because it was so dangerous with a lot of dust in the first few kilometers, then many kilometers with fesh-fesh. I started in a rear position because of the problem from yesterday, and it was difficult to pass these riders with the dust. But finally I took a good pace with the speedy open tracks and recovered a few minutes. I finished in a good position, I think.”
Sadly, the harsh realities of the wild Dakar environment were brought into perspective again today when it was learned that the motorcycle ranks suffered a fatality. Honda rider Eric Palante, 50, of Belgium, was found at the 143 kilometer mark of the route. The circumstances of Palante’s death are still under investigation. Palante was competing in his 11th Dakar Rally and had earned a best finish of 66th place in the 2012 edition.
Today also brought an end to the hopes of KTM rider Francesco “Chaleco” Lopez, who crashed at the 211-kilometer mark, suffering severe damage to his motorcycle.
Tomorrow the remaining entrants will take a much-needed rest day before resuming competition on Sunday for the first of seven more stages to the finish. A halfway podium and celebration has been organized at the bivouac in Salta, and the festival is expected to draw thousands of spectators who will get the chance to meet the competitors. Stage 7 will feature a 500-kilometer mega loop that begins and ends in Salta. This will also be the last full stage in Argentina, as the competitors prepare for the trek through Bolivia and into Chile.
2014 Dakar Rally
Stage 6
Tucuman-Salta, Argentina
Results: January 10, 2014
1. Alain Duclos-She/04:21:34
2. Marc Coma-KTM/+00:01:15
3. Michael Metge-Yam/+00:01:49
4. Joan Barreda-Hon/+00:02:22
5. Cyril Despres-Yam/+00:02:55
6. Helder Rodrigues-Hon/+00:04:21
7. Stefan Svitko-KTM/+00:07:46
8. Kuba Pryzgonski-KTM/+00:08:12
9. Jordi Viladoms-KTM/+00:10:26
10. Jeremias Israel-Spe/+00:11:13
Dakar Rally Standings (After Stage 6 of 13)
1. Marc Coma-KTM/23:08:00
2. Joan Barreda-KTM/+00/42:17
3. Alain Duclos-She/+01:00:58
4. Jordi Viladoms-KTM/+01:08:09
5. Jeremias Israel-Spe/+01:33:28
6. Olivier Pain-Yam/+01:43:08
7. Kuba Pryzgonski-KTM/+01:49:59
8. Helder Rodrigues-Hon/+02:01:24
9. David Casteu-KTM/+02:12:05
10. Daniel Gouet-Hon/+02:17:26
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