Avoid trembling was the motto of the day. En route to Santiago de Baradero, Marc Coma started with more than 16′ lead in the general standings on his long-term contender Cyril Despres. The risk of seeing this lead go to waste for title holder was almost nil for the title holder, so the big challenge of this special stage was to stay focused. On the long straight stretches of trail, the Catalan who was opening the road went in clean and fast.
KTM was strong again
Despres could only follow and was never able to catch up with the expected winner. The leader of the general standings since stage 4 only had to keep his opponent under control and only lost 1’30 to Despres on the finish line of the stage. The total time gap between the two men in the standings is 15’04”; finishing second, Despres will have a hard time coming to terms with the 10′ lost for a silly penalty. As for Coma, he can claim “paternity” of the perfect race: his riding craft brings him a third Dakar victory, the same number of final victories as Despres.
Summary Stage 13 - 2011/01/15
The third place on the podium seemed to be promised to Chilean rider Francisco Lopez, who had also finished third last year. With a 43-minute lead on his closest pursuant it was a sure deal. Unfortunately, fate hit hard on “Chaleco” who broke the rear shock absorber of his bike on km 159, i.e. just 22 km shy of the end. On the finish line, Helder Rodrigues, who just made the second fastest time of the special stage, just 5” behind Verhoeven is counting the minutes. Despite the help of Alain Duclos, who is now towing his leader, “Chaleco” only crossed the finish line at 13:23. Much too late – actually 29 minutes too late – to save his third place now occupied by the Portuguese rider. After Aprilia in 2010, it is therefore a Yamaha bike that finishes right behind the two lead KTM bikes. For Rodrigues, who finished 4th last year, it is a dream come true.
Dakar 2011 - The Best Of
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