Today, Cyril Despres was able to cut a little into Marc Coma's lead. If it wasn't for an unfortunate navigation mistake yesterday, Despres would be right up with his KTM rival. Instead, Despres still has a lot of work to do if he wants to make up the 15 minutes that he now trails Coma during the final days of the 2011 Dakar Rally. Despite having the odds against him, Despres knows that the fat lady hasn't sung just yet.
Here are some quotes from stage 11 of the Dakar.
Stephane Peterhansel: “It would be a shame to end up having an accident”
“Carlos's problems will allow Nasser to have a much more comfortable last two days. Carlos already lost the Dakar two days from the finish two years ago. We know that it is always complicated to win the Dakar and he's seen just how much this time. As for us, there isn't much left to be gained by going out to attack. We're in fourth and third place is too far away. It would be a shame to end up having an accident. Even if, for us, fourth position isn't much to write home about, it would be good for the team and the mechanics to get the car back to Buenos Aires in this position.”
Francisco Lopez: “I would have liked to have won today” “I started calmly on this stage. I wanted to make sure of getting 3rd place. When I got to refuelling, I was told that I was leading the special. I set off again to catch up with Marc and Cyril, but 20 km after refueling, I missed a note in the road-book, and took the wrong direction for 4 kilometres, but what with turning back, it turned out to be 8. I didn't manage to catch them. This year, it hasn't been easy. I would have liked to have won today, but that's racing. Now my goal is Buenos Aires. I'm still happy, though.”
Marc Coma: “Tomorrow is another long day” “Today was a great day. It was a hard day, though, and very long with a lot of rocks and dry river beds. In the end, both parts were superb and we managed to ride at a good pace. There's still tomorrow which will be a hard day, so anything is still possible. Tomorrow evening, we'll obviously be closer to the finish, but I have to make sure I get through the day okay. A calm approach is best: if something happens, then I'll just have to adapt, but if I take things professionally, then it should all be ok. I repeat: tomorrow is another long day. We'll see what happens afterwards.”
Quinn Cody: “Like on the Bajas”
“I felt really good on this special. This terrain around here is exactly like on the Bajas, only way smoother. The terrain in the mountains was really similar to southern Bajas, so I feel comfortable. Every day, I'm getting more comfortable with the navigation and the road-book. I had a good time today and it was fun. I feel that I can get a good rhythm, read the road-book and ride fast at the same time. It's taken me this long to get comfortable with it, though.”
Alain Duclos: “It's 10,000 km of training for next year”
“The second week has actually gone well, as I planned. But it's true that it was difficult for me to get the bit between my teeth with all the problems that I had. When you set off with ambitions to be in the Top 5 and after 50 km out of 10,000 you already know you won't manage, it's hard to get back into the game. But here we are in the second week and I'm here. It's the place where I should be normally, but we didn't work well at the start. It's not a problems though, let's just say it's 10,000 km of training to be ready from the first day next year. Battling for the top places on the stages this week is good for confidence, it encourages me to work hard and not give up.”
Cyril Despres: “The fat lady hasn't sung yet”
“To succeed, you have to try first, and I'm trying. I'm doing everything I can, everything I know. It has to be said it was a superb special. Even if the time wasn't great, it was a pleasure to ride. In 2007; I won two days before the finish, and if I don't have a hope, it's impossible to ride at speeds like that. I'm still hoping and carrying on attacking. With Marc, we both ride KTM bikes, which is an advantage. We're quite close, but for the moment, the fat lady hasn't sung yet. There are still two days left.”
Here is a video of today's action at the 2011 Dakar Rally.
