So part 2 of the second marathon stage brought plenty more action. Another shortened stage, due to flooding (they get mad weather here, hey?), it was still to pack a few punches.
Bikes - so with the second part of the previous days stage cancelled due to extreme heat, Honda’s last hope of victory, Portuguese rider Paulo Goncalves had a chance to repair his overheat damaged engine. No one could deny this guy has earned a break. Dakar 2014:
Being a marathon stage, service crews were not allowed. The rider had to work on the bike themselves. So all the factory Honda riders set to it, sacrificing a team mates bike for engine parts (piston), so Goncalves did not incur the full penalty for an engine (block) change. Admitting they have been practicing working on their bikes as riders, totally re-enforces for me the brilliance of the marathon stage idea. It forces you not to just be great at going fast, you need a more complete set of skills than that, and this is true teamwork. The rider whose bike was sacrificed, his Dakar adventure would end here.
So Goncalves took the start, albeit with 39 mins of penalties, and his Honda ran perfectly. 4th on the stage, but over an hour down and 7 riders between him and the front, a valiant effort, but I fear once again Goncalves luck is not with him for the podium.
Toby Price rode like a seasoned veteran, as opposed to the man only competing in his 2nd Dakar. Sacrificing the stage win to allow the chasing pack to catch him, the lead group rode through the stage together. Price losing over 5 minutes to the stage winner. When you have a nearly 30 minute buffer, and only 3 stages to go, these are the tactics you can employ. You are almost guaranteed to lose only 5 minutes, charge off into the stage on your own and get lost, who knows what you can lose?
Today’s winner was the amazing Stefan Svitko, the KTM privateer (although somehow you think if he needs a set of spark plugs now, KTM might be obliging), in 2010 the first Slovakian to finish the Dakar, he is now the first to win a stage outright. Having maintained 3rd outright for most of the rally, he now lies 2nd. With the brilliantly named (almost) local hero, Pablo Quintanilla in 3rd. I look forward to the day a South American wins the modern Dakar.
Just got to give a mention to Laia Sanz, now into 10th overall, despite another big fall today. Like Goncalves, she wasted no time getting straight back up and getting on with it. She makes a point of playing with the boys, and she is tougher than you are.
Also Californian rider Ricky Brabec, starting to look like one to keep an eye on for the future.
Cars - this was to be a decisive stage for the cars. Nasser was no longer talking about consolidation, he was here for the win and he could see there were cracks in the mighty Peugeot armor. Only 14 minutes back, now was the time to push and put the pressure on the French team. With the potential for reward, comes the potential for risk, and so it was to be, the MINI on it’s side by km 6. The Qatari losing almost an hour, by the end of the stage he would be 2nd outright...
The remaining works Peugeot’s were going hammer and tongs too, Peterhansel making a big navigational error early on, costing around 15 minutes, thinking that he was seriously on the back foot he pushed like a madman to try to regain the time.
Unbeknown to him, while he thought Sainz was pulling chunks of time out of him (which he was), the Spaniard suffered terminal gearbox failure.
With some muy espectacular driving up until that point, it wasn’t a huge suprise that Sainz’s ride didn’t go the distance. With the gearbox in the Pug being a load bearing chassis member, a field repair was never on the cards.
You can see in this photos after Loeb’s crash that the Peugeot has, errr, not much in common with an actual ‘Peugeot’, always fancied a 405 Mi16 myself, I digress...
As it stands Carlos is still in stage. Devo, he is the epitome of a passionate racing driver, maybe still slightly too hot for the Dakar after all these years, the commensurate competitor. Don’t change King Carlos.
This leaves stage winner Peterhansel with a 1 hour lead over Al Attiyah, with old hand Giniel De Villiers (Toyota) now in 3rd. That hour gap, with Peterhansel driving, looks like the result is a foregone conclusion. However, any problem in that relatively untested Peugeot and the fight for 2nd becomes the fight for the win. There are 7 competitors within an hour of 2nd place. The longest stage of the rally is yet to come...
Quads - Patronelli’s still look safe in 1 & 2. South African Brian Baragwanath, fulfilling his early promise with a stage victory.
Trucks - De Rooy is still dominating, with now the lonely Kamaz of Mardeev in 2nd after the other Kamaz suffered in this stage, with truck rookie Federico “Coyote” Villagra storming to 3rd.
While there is a race going on, there is also art...
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