Dakar Rally Stage 3 - Tucaman to JuJuy
After the third stage of the Dakar rally, Cyril Despres is barely holding onto the lead. Marc Coma cut more than two minutes off of Despres' lead today, climbing within 14 seconds of last year's champ. Here are some quotes from the Dakar Rally.
David Casteu: Sherco “This morning, in the first river bed, it reminded me a little of last year when I fell, so I made sure I was extremely careful. For overtaking, there was a lot of dust and I didn’t want to take any risks. I still have last year’s memories on my mind. We’re here in South America where I hurt myself. What’s more, the bikes are suffering enormously. I haven’t changed my engine yet. I hope I can keep it until we leave Argentina, because we’re only allowed three engines.”
Chaleco Lopez: Aprilia “I started at a good pace, but then I had a problem with the fuel intake. I had to stop, repair and lost around ten minutes. After that, I rode at a gentler pace. I knew it would be a difficult day, but I’m still here. I hope that things will change once we get to Chile and I’m at home.”
Olivier Pain: Yamaha “During the first part, it was ok. In all, I enjoyed myself, even if I had problems with my road-book scroller. I had to ride all the stage scrolling by hand. The switch wasn’t working. In the second part, the paper started to tear, so I had to stop twice and sort it out before continuing. Apart from that, the bike is working really well and I feel very good on it. I’m not too far from the leaders, so it’s great for my aims for the end of the rally.”
Marc Coma: KTM “That was a really authentic Dakar day: the first part with lots of navigation, then more riding on the rest. I’m happy with where I am. I took advantage of a little navigation mistake by Cyril Despres. Of course it’s important to win a special, but my aim is to win the rally.”
Cyril Despres: KTM “Marc Coma caught up with me very quickly. There were a lot of riders at the start of the special. I was very careful during the first 10 kilometres and then after 11 km I got it completely wrong. I didn’t lose two hours, but several precious minutes. In the end, I limited the damage, because I finished 20 seconds behind Marc. He must have gain 2 minutes 20 seconds on me. It’s not huge amount of time, but I would’ve liked to have kept it for myself.”
