Frans Verhoeven collected the first stage win of his career after keeping a strong, consistent pace and staying out of trouble.
It was another day of typical Dakar, which means you can’t rely on anything to be consistent. Yesterday’s winner, Marc Coma, had troubles of his own and dropped over 12 minutes to the leader of Stage 2, Frans Verhoeven who claimed his first-ever special test victory.
There was no time to warm up today as the riders departed Santa Rosa at 6:15 a.m. and set directly about the 237 km special test which featured high-speed terrain throughout. Coma led the way through Check Point 2, but found trouble with his Repsol KTM’s radiator in the final half of the special. Cyril Despres suffered some crash damage to his Red Bull KTM and lost his helmet visor, but was able to take advantage and get back on track by finishing second, just 41 seconds behind the Dutchman, Verhoeven. Another 23 seconds behind him was Team Fret Motorsports David Fretigne on his Yamaha WR450F in third.
Jonah Street continues to
impress with another fifth-
place result as the top
American.
Jordi Viladoms also had a better outing on the eastern journey to Puerto Madryn. Coma’s teammate secured fourth with an overall time of 2:15:52. Jonah Street was again fifth and again the top American racer, but ran as high as second at CP2. He was less than two minutes behind the leader by the time they reached the 600 km liaison to the bivouac on paved roads.
As it stands for the major players, Coma is still in a great position with over 13 minutes on Verhoeven, but Viladoms and Despres have closed the gap to around 30 minutes and are in 11th and 12th, respectively, with some of the more technical riding still ahead. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, who finished fourth in 2007, is currently 24 minutes behind Coma in sixth. Frenchman Thierry Bethys resides in 26th and is looking to improve aboard his Honda while his countryman and ‘07’s third-place finisher, David Casteu, labors back in 31st. Factory KTM Austria rider Alain Duclos disappeared back to 189th after dropping over eight hours with a 2:20 penalty.
Of the 235 original entrants, only 192 competitors remain after the grueling opening days. Stage 3 heads west to Jacobacci.
Check out the
video highlights of Stage 2.
The Spaniard, Coma, retains his lead with 12 stages remaining.
Frans Verhoeven (Nld – KTM) – 1st, 2nd OA
At the start it was quite technical, but then it became quicker. In the middle, there was a very difficult navigation section in amongst the vegetation and with the dust, it was impossible to see any tire tracks. I managed to find the route and at one time I saw there were no more tire tracks in front of me, so I knew I was in the lead.
Cyril Despres (Fra – KTM) – 2nd, 12th OA
On arriving in the Pampa, I hit a tiny sod of grass, not even a cow pat and the bike went flying. I rolled over forwards. The Iritrack and the GPS broke, so it was another difficult day, but that’s racing. I didn’t hurt myself though: I was only riding at 20 kmph when I came off. At least this second stage is now finished. I hope all these mishaps are finished too.
David Fretigne (Fra – Yamaha) – 3rd, 3rd OA
“To be honest, that was 200 km of really interesting special stage. I really enjoyed myself. We had a bit of everything: quick tracks at the end, after a winding beginning on which we could slide the bike round the bends. So, just from a riding viewpoint, it was a real pleasure. There was also some off-track navigation that was very difficult. Honestly, I was really cautious about it. I thought I had lost time, but I didn’t do too badly in the end. I hope I can continue like this”.
Marc Coma (Esp – KTM) – 17th, 1st OA
I had a problem with the radiator. I noticed after 104 km that I had an oil leak. At the CP, which was just a few kilometers afterwards, I asked if they had any oil, because I could see it was a big leak. I had to continue, because they couldn’t help me out and I decided to stop at the first place I came across where there were people to see of I could find a solution. That was at the 108-km mark. Someone from the crowd brought me an oilcan. I was able to put it to good use, but I had to stop regularly.
Stage 2 was another day filled with high speeds. Marc Coma excels in these conditions and was able to keep his lead despite mechanical woes.
1 VERHOEVEN (NLD) KTM 02:14:48
2. DESPRES (FRA) KTM 02:15:29
3. FRETIGNE (FRA) YAMAHA 02:15:52
4. VILADOMS (ESP) KTM 02:16:21
5. STREET (USA) KTM 02:16:39
6. VISSER (NLD) KTM 02:18:35
7. PAIN (FRA) YAMAHA 02:19:50
8. LOPEZ (CHL) KTM 02:20:53
9. MARCHINI (FRA) YAMAHA 02:21:16
10. VINTERS (LVA) KTM 02:21:18
Overall Standings:
1. COMA (ESP) KTM 05:13:32
2. VERHOEVEN (NLD) KTM 05:27:19
3. FRETIGNE (FRA) YAMAHA 05:30:23
4. CZACHOR (POL) KTM 05:31:13
5. STREET (USA) KTM 05:35:18 00:21:46
6. ULLEVALSETER (NOR) KTM 05:38:08
7. PAIN (FRA) YAMAHA 05:38:46
8. KNUIMAN (NLD) KTM 05:39:28
9. MARCHINI (FRA) YAMAHA 05:40:16
10. VINTERS (LVA) KTM 05:40:43 00:27:11
