2011 Dakar Rally - Stage 9 - Copiapo to Copiapo
Typically, the start of a day of racing at the Dakar Rally is a one by one affair, as riders take turns heading off into the desert based on their rankings. But today, the Dakar Rally started in group fashion, with 10 riders lining up at a time to tackle the terrain. The group outing makes it easy for the mistake of one to turn into the mistake of many, and 9 out of the first 10 riders made a navigation mistake as they made their way out of Chile.
Only Helder Rodriguez, the winner in Arica, was able to navigate the road book successfully. But the successful navigation by Rodriguez was cancelled out by a lack of fuel. Rodriguez ran out of petrol at the 225 km marker, ruining his chances for another stage win.
“The day started well for me again," Rodriguez said. "I was riding really well until the 215 km point, then I got a bit lost. I rode 9 km too much, so I turned back and ran out of petrol. Luckily, Felipe Prohens gave me some petrol. It's terrible. 15 kilometres from here I had the best time, but that's rallying for you.”
With Rodriguez out of competition, and nine riders working to make up time for the poor navigation, the door was open for a new stage winner. American Jonah Street led the charge from the third wave of riders, working through the dunes to catch up with the leading pack. Street would finish with the best time of the day, claiming his first stage win of the 2011 Dakar rally, and his second stage win in his career.
“I had to start in the third wave, which was good and bad," said Street. "Good that everyone up front new their position and were taking it easy and I got to charge through. The second wave caught everybody in the second to last sand dunes. Then in the last dunes, I think when there were only 3 bikes in front of me I went over the handlebars hard, straight into the sand, totally unannounced, but I was okay. I got back up and followed them in, because I figured that I started two waves behind them so I was doing alright. Today we didn't have any bike problems, everything went really smooth, so I'm happy. It's awesome. You know what? We've been capable of it all rally, it just hasn't fallen into our plate. It's awesome, totally awesome. It's what we come here to do, to do the best we can and first is the best you can do, so to win a stage pretty special."
Marc Coma remains at the top of the time sheets, but Cyril Despres was able to cut into his lead by a minute. The two KTM riders were among the nine that got lost in the first group, and at the end of the day there was still about 8 minutes between them.
