After 10 stages in the 2011 Dakar Rally, there is finally a substantial gap between the top two contenders. For the first nine stages, Cyril Despres has kept within 10 minutes of the leader, Marc Coma, but a navigation mistake today put 18 minutes between the two KTM riders.
Of course the Dakar Rally isn't over yet, but if Coma can avoid a major mistake, he should be able to walk away with his third Dakar Rally win.
Here are some quotes from stage 10 of the Dakar.
Francisco Lopez: “Complicated, but I'm still here”
“It was a very difficult stage, but I started very well. I thought I would be in with a shout for 2nd place, but Cyril got lost. Then after 60 km I had a few problems. The bike stalled because something was wrong with the fuel pump. My water carrier, Gerard Farres Guell, arrived and we were able to carry on, but it was tough until the finish. I didn't think I was going to be able to finish. But, that's the Dakar. I gave it a lot today, I thought I could have put in a good performance but in the dry river bed it was complicated. But I'm still here.”
Ruben Faria: “Crazy”
“It was a very difficult stage… crazy. I got lost at least three or four times, but it wasn't' too bad. Everyone got lost in the dry river bed towards the end.”
Helder Rodrigues: “It's hard to take”
“It was the same as yesterday! I started behind Marc and Cyril and I caught up with them. Afterwards, about ten kilometres from here, we got lost in a dry river bed and couldn't find the way out. I lost a lot of time there. That's two days in a row now. It's hard to take.”
Marc Coma: “I managed to ride the fastest”
“It was another very difficult special. We know that Fiambala is one of the hardest days of the rally. There was a lot of navigation and a part with soft dunes. Then, in a dry river bed, it was just as complicated because it was difficult to navigate. We got a bit lost, but managed to find the right track and finish off decently. There are two very hard days left and the last special to think about as well. It's always good to win, but there are still two days. Today, it was good right from the start. I was behind to start with, but I managed to ride the fastest.”
Cyril Despres: “I fell into a mud hole”
“I made a first big mistake after 120 km whilst I was riding well. I read 17 instead of 117 on the navigation and I ended up in the rocks with Verhoeven. We already lost lots of time there, but then in the last few kilometres I made another mistake, turned round and fell into a mud hole. It was impossible to get back out, it took me ten minutes in all. I though I was going to lose even more time. It's a bad day, but that's rally raids for you, some days are good, some are bad.”
Here is a video recap of the 10th stage of the Dakar.
