Red Bull rider Cyril Despres put in a magnificent ride in Monday‰Ûªs Stage Nine of the Dakar 2013 when it resumed for the second half of this year‰Ûªs edition.
The curret title-holder won the stage and moved into second overall while his factory team-mate Ruben Faria of Portugal took control of the overall lead.
Despres, a multiple winner on KTM machines went out on what was the longest stage of the rally knowing it was time to make an impression. He put his mixed fortunes of previous days behind him and finished the stage in five hours 41.36, three minutes 21 ahead of Joan Barreda of Spain.
With Faria in the lead, Despres now has a fighting chance of defending his title with a deficit of just 5 minutes 23 and many kilometers to go before the finish in Santiago, Chile on January 19.
The French rider had a magnificent day out on what was certainly one of the most gruelling stages of the rally this year. He left the starting line in the early hours of the morning lying in fifth place overall with a deficit of around 25 minutes, including a penalty of 15 minutes for having changed an engine.
The fact that he was able to cut that to just five minutes was a testament to the immense skill and fighting spirit skill of KTM‰Ûªs four times Dakar winner. Despres went on the attack as soon as he hit the track and fought hard all the way to claim his thirty-first career stage victory.
Despres put his efforts today in part down to his extreme physical fitness but said it was time he made his presence felt.
"It was a good day with lots of attacking and lots of turns." Despres stated. "I knew that it would be physically demanding, that I'd have to give it my all.
"I've got blisters on my feet and my hands are sore, but I had to bang my fist on the table to say "Hey, I'm here!"
"Ruben and I are racing well for the team, he's in good shape and that's the most important thing right now.‰Û
