In a shortened 273 km special stage, Chilean rider Francisco Lopez (Aprilia) managed to achieve best time for the first time this year, which brings him slightly closer to Coma and Despres. His Italian 450cc having now demonstrated its reliability, both in terms of performance and sturdiness, all the conditions were there to see Lopez roar out of the box. In order to make sure he would win this one, the Chilean rider was very tidy; he cleared km 176 with more than 4′ lead over Coma.
Summary stage 7 - 2011/01/09
Upon arrival, he finished with a 2’21” margin, a glorious day of fame and a small jump closer to the top of the standings where he is still 3rd, 18’27” behind the Catalan rider.
The 273 km on the menu of the day did not really change things between both KTM riders, although the day made them both realize the “Chaleco” threat is a pretty serious one. Coma remains in the lead 7’24” ahead of Despres who closed the gap a bit today. Both men know that such a short lead can be destroyed any day by a mechanical problem or by a dodgy navigation decision. A bit further down the ranks, the good news finally came from Pal-Anders Ullevalseter who ended with the 8th fastest time of the day and is back in the Top 10. As for Jonah Street, he is on the way out of the leadership, falling more than an hour behind Coma at CP3 (km 192) after having had to stop for an engine failure. David Casteu is already pretty far down the ranks, but trouble seems to be the daily bread of the Sherco rider, who also had to spend a long time repairing off trail.
via Dakar
