After 8 stages, Marc Coma is beginning to put some space between himself and Cyril Despres. Coma captured his third stage win of the 2011 Dakar today, adding another two minutes to his lead.
Here are some quotes from 8th stage of the Dakar Rally.
Pal-Anders Ullevalseter: “for the general standings, it was a good result”
“That was my kind of special. Until half-way through I was doing well, but then I got lost twice. In the end, for the general standings, it was a good result and I'm continuing to climb back up. It's very positive and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's stage.”
Helder Rodrigues: “To only lose 4 minutes on a day like that is positive”
“It was a difficult stage for me. I rode 508 km all alone. Coma and Chaleco caught up with me quickly and I didn't manage to stay with them. Afterwards, I was all on my own and it was tough. Chaleco gain 4 minutes on me. It's not much. To only lose 4 minutes on a day like that is good, it's positive.”
Marc Coma: “Everything turned out fine”
“It was a hard stage and very long with plenty of mileage and dunes. With Cyril and Chaleco we all rode together. We took turns to open the way, at a very fast pace too. I was happy about the pace today. It was a good stage after a complicated one yesterday. But in the end, everything turned out fine. I'm glad, because it was a 500-km special. That's a hell of a lot.”
Cyril Despres: “There are back wheel like leeches in rally raids too”
“It wasn't too bad at all today. We've been on the go for a while: 505 kilometres. And it wasn't easy to open the way, so obviously the others catch up with you. Chaleco and me opened up the way and we had a great time. Today, the game was to stay right behind following in my tracks. He didn't take too many risks, but, you know, that happens. You can't do much about it, but we still distanced the rest of them by miles. Chaleco led the way on all the quick parts and I did the dunes. In the end, the satisfaction came from overtaking them and crossing the finishing line first. It's not much, but for a day like today it's a source of satisfaction. The problem with navigation is like in cycling some riders stick to your back wheel like leeches; well, there's the same thing in rally raids too. But that's just part of the game.”
Here is a video summary of the 8th stage of the 2011 Dakar Rally.
