Coma hangs on to a two second lead after Dakar Stage 4
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In the duel already being fought by Marc Coma and Cyril Despres, Coma took a very slim advantage in the 4th stage of the Dakar as the rally entered Chilean territory.
Neither orider is particularly keen on suspense. Thus, there is nothing pre-meditation about the contest which the KTM duo have established since the grand start in Buenos Aires.
This morning, after crossing the Andes, with a not inconsiderable altitude of 4,800 to climb, the Coma was the first at the starting line, the most delicate position on the Dakar, because by definition, the competitor opening the way has no tracks to follow.
That said, the Spaniard has already shown his expertise in navigation in addition to his skill behind the handlebars. Over 200 kilometres of the route, he started by distancing Despres (32" behind after 81 km), who then in turn made up for some of the time lost on the second part of the route. In Calama, Coma still managed to maintain an edge, with a time 16" quicker than his main rival. The provisional outcome shows the extent to which the two masters of the discipline can manage to neutralise each other. After 1,220 km of timed sections so far, Coma only holds first place by a slim gap of 2 seconds, whilst both men have 2 stage victories each.
"It was a very important day for me, even if it was only a 207-km stage," Coma said. "It was difficult to open the way. I'm happy and I felt great. I hope it stays like that right until the end. The general standings don't matter for the moment. The most important thing will be the last day. It's essential to have a good pace and avoid making mistakes. Now we'll have to deal with two very difficult stages".
Cyril Despres said, "For this type of terrain that's so different you need to change the way your brain's wired. There's no more hard ground, just desert, off-track riding and surfaces which break up. For a first day in the sand, it was a good start to the desert stages. Today, Marc Coma rode a great stage. It's a superb battle with Marc. Today again we opened up a little more of a gap on the others. This evening, I'm in second, 2 seconds behind. For a number 2, that's a neat trick, isn't it?" the Frenchman concluded.
Behind them, Chaleco Lopez would surely have liked to enter Chile as a winner, just like he did the first time the Dakar visited his country. However, his starting position (11th) made it a difficult task. In total, he still managed to grab the 3rd best time of the day on his Aprilia, trailing Coma by 2'05".
"I feel a lot better in Chile," Lopez said.
"It was a very quick day. I finished 3rd on the special. I feel a lot better in Chile even if it's going to be a lot more complicated tomorrow. Cyril and Marc are riding at a crazy pace. I can't keep up with them for the moment. I prefer the stages with more off-track riding. Today was a positive day. I'm going to dry and claw time back on Coma and Despres but it's not easy. They have machines that are performing excellently and they're great riders as well. Mind you, there's still a long way to go in the rally".
An increasingly regular performer at this level, Olivier Pain took 4th position, like yesterday, 6'20" behind the stage winner, but the 12 minute penalty given to the Yamaha rider on stage 2 pushes him back to 12th place in the general standings. For the moment, the fight for the third place on the podium, currently occupied by Lopez, is taking place 20 minutes behind Coma.
Main Photo: Marc Coma at full speed
VIDEO: The stage summary - Stage 4
Dakar 2011, Stage 4
1. Marc Coma (SPA), KTM
2. Cyril Despres (FRA), KTM, 0:16 min behind
3. Francisco Lopez Contardo (CHI), Aprilia, 2:05
4. Olivier Pain (FRA), Yamaha, 6:20
5. Helder Rodrigues (POR), Yamaha, 6:55
6. Juan Pedrero Garcia (SPA), KTM, 7:15
7. Jordi Viladoms (SPA), Yamaha, 8:22
8. David Casteu (FRA), Sherco, 8:53
9. Frans Verhoeven (NEL), BMW Motorrad by speedbrain, 9:43
10. Pal-Anders Ullevalseter (NOR), KTM, 10:26
49 Warren Strange (Australia)
72 Simon Pavey (Australia)
86 Jacob Smith (Australia)
138 Mark Davidson (Australia)
