2009 Dakar Rally Stage 5 Results

Stage 5 proved to be all about the tires.  Marc Coma had punctures early on, allowing Cyril Despres and Jonah Street to breeze by. Shortly after the check point it was Despres turn, as he suffered a tire puncture losing his lead. American rider Street managed to avoid tire troubles and navigate the harsh winding sands in 6:41'06 to take the Stage 5 win.  Despres finished 8th with Coma only one minute behind in 9th place.

After starting in third place at the begining of Stage 5, Street showed his determination and skill as in this technical stage. Coma's early troubles allowed a few riders to make up time on his overall lead. Street showed he's here to win and is quickly breaking down the Spaniard's lead. In the general standings, the Repsol KTM pilot ended the stage in 9th position and lost some of the 42 minute lead he had yesterday. Street has cut his overall lead down to 27'12 at the end of Stage 5. David Frétigné took third place this stage and is now at 39’09" behind first place.

Stage 5 was haunted by the news of the mysterious death of rider Pascal Terry who has been missing since Stage 2. Details surrounding his death have been sparce but at 3/4 though Stage 5 the offical Dakar site posted word of his passing. Read more here.

Check out the video of the Stage 5 Highlights.

Looking forward to Stage 6:
Riders will travel from San Rafael to Mendoza in the next stage with a 395 km (245.4 mi) special kicking off with 60 km of dunes spiked in the second half with a river crossing. This stage comes very near the foothills of the Andes mountain range with elevation peaking at 2700 meters. A winding gully near the end of the special stage will prove to be a challange for the riders.

Jonah Street (USA - KTM) - 1st, 2nd OA
Obviously, I worked a lot to get this; I had been dreaming of a stage victory for so long. It’s really special. I did some pretty good navigating. I was not the fastest because my bike is so much slower than the ones of the manufacturers’ riders. But I found the right path and this is what the Dakar is all about. I am not thinking about the general standings. I just want to go on driving at my own pace and taking care of my bike as good as I can to get to the finish of the raid.

Marc Coma (Esp - KTM) - 9th, 1st OA
I was riding very slowly in the stony ground but I still got a puncture just 60 kilometres after the start. Jordi (Viladoms) started 10 minutes behind me this morning, and I knew he would be along soon, so I took my wheel out and starting repairing it while I waited. When he came along we quickly swapped wheels and off I went again. In all I lost no more than 12 minutes or so. Then just before the dunes at the end I lost the rear brake and that made tackling them a bit difficult and cost me a little more time.

Cyril Despres (Fra - KTM) - 8th, 10th OA
I came past Marc (Coma) early on when he was stopped for a puncture and from there to km 300 I opened the piste until it was my turn to get the spanners out. Of course once you have punctured you have to take it really easy as you don't have a second chance. I am getting quite good now at swapping tubes and managed to get going again in just 17 minutes. Although I can't say it was the best day's racing I have ever had I am nevertheless pleased to have been able to pull a little bit of time back on Marc. Plus the stage was how I like it - pretty tough and very varied. I think the amateur riders are going to really struggle...

Jordi Viladoms (Esp - KTM) 10th, 5th OA 
I stopped for Marc but fortunately Gerard Farres stopped for me! The only problem then was to overtake all the riders who had come past me while I was waiting for him. Overall it was a pretty tough special - both physically and mentally. It was pretty long and the navigation was not so easy at the end.

Alain Duclos (Fra - KTM) 39th, 97th OA 
Not a great day. I punctured at km 80. Then at km 200 the Sentinel alarm system fell off and got stuck between the fork tubes causing me to crash. Finally towards the end of the special the front mousse started to go soft and I felt every stone I rode over.


Stage 5 Results:

1. STREET (USA) KTM 06:41:06
2. VERHOEVEN (NLD) KTM 06:46:59
3. LOPEZ (CHL) KTM 06:48:40
4. CASTEU (FRA) KTM 06:50:42
5. RODRIGUES (PRT) KTM 06:51:41
6. FRETIGNE (FRA) YAMAHA 06:52:18
7. ULLEVALSETER (NOR) KTM 06:55:44 
8. DESPRES (FRA) KTM 06:55:52 
9. COMA (ESP) KTM 06:56:51
10. VILADOMS (ESP) KTM 07:07:36

Overall Standings:

1. COMA (ESP) KTM 21:38:12
2. STREET (USA) KTM 22:05:24
3. FRETIGNE (FRA) YAMAHA 22:17:21
4. ULLEVALSETER (NOR) KTM 22:35:34
5. VILADOMS (ESP) KTM 22:44:54
6. RODRIGUES (PRT) KTM 22:56:06 
7. VERHOEVEN (NLD) KTM 23:02:13 
8. CASTEU (FRA) KTM 23:10:03 
9. KNUIMAN (NLD) KTM 23:12:53 
10. DESPRES (FRA) KTM 23:14:20