AMV Red Bull KTM's Marc Coma finally got the monkey off his back and won Stage 6 in dominating fashion.
Hallelujah, Marc Coma finally had a successful day in the 2010 Dakar Rally with a win at Stage 6. Coma had to battle tough navigation, dusty conditions and a poor start time to top his competitors between Antofagasta and Iquique. The special again featured four check points and two fuel stops along its 260 miles that led inland from the Pacific Ocean and then back out to the coast
It’s always dangerous to follow someone when riding dirt bikes. In motocross it won’t allow you to pass, during an enduro you fall into the leader’s pace and in rally raid you get hopelessly lost. Chile’s native son, Franciso Lopez Contardo, started first today after winning Stage 5, but even his local knowledge of the terrain couldn’t overcome the difficult navigational challenges in the early going. Considering how he used his on-site training to win yesterday aboard his Aprilia 450 machine, playing follow-the-leader seemed like a safe bet for the riders immediately behind him. Unfortunately for them, at just 14 miles into the special, the Chilean made a wrong turn and took David Fretigne, Alain Duclos, Pal Anders Ullevalseter and Paulo Goncalves along with him. This allowed Red Bull KTM rider and current leader, Cyril Despres, to extend his time over the wayward men.
Coma had a bit of difficulty finding his early route as well, but managed to stay on track and was able to take the lead before the 100-mile mark. By the time they reached the second check point, the Spaniard had amassed 3:21 over Despres and was continuing to pull away adding another minute at CP3 and surging to a gap of 10:34 at the finish. Unlike previous stages, Coma managed to keep his nose clean on the AMV Red Bull KTM and that proved to be all that he needed. The reigning champion launched all the way up to fourth in the overall standings. Although Despres didn’t win the stage, he still put time on the runner-up, Lopez, who is more than 42 minutes behind.
Alain Duclos was one of the riders who was led astray.
After passing some of the “second-tier” riders in the standings, Coma faces the truly hard work of clawing into a podium position. He’s still 22 minutes behind Rodrigues in third and over an hour off Despres. With more than half of the rally still ahead, it’s entirely realistic to expect Coma to pick off another one or two positions, but Cyril’s unwavering performance has put him in an excellent position to reclaim the title. He has proven on a daily basis that he’s as fast as, or faster, than anyone else, but his bad luck has been keeping him down. Now that he has fewer riders to pass and less dust to contend with, the Spaniard will be able to sprint away up front and use his experience and superior navigational skills to start building serious momentum. Coma needs to stay fast and out of trouble if he wants to remain King of Dakar.
Two top riders were forced to withdraw their bids today after being injured in separate crashes. BMW’s Paulo Goncalves broke his collarbone at 121 miles into the special and Italian Luca Manca, who gave his KTM’s rear wheel to Coma yesterday, had a nasty accident right off the bat at the six-mile mark.
Rider Quotes:
Marc Coma: (ESP – KTM) 1st, 4th OA
“It was a tough stage. On km 29 there was a hidden way point. A lot of riders took it on the right, but with the dust and having left after the others, I really had a hard time. I kept a good pace. It was a very hard day actually. I think I must have passed quite a number of riders but there was so much dust... it was tricky. I am happy to have reached the finish without problems. I said I now wanted to win the day-to-day race after all the trouble I had and enjoy the race. Then we’ll see. Each day I’ll start the stage motivated. I don’t care about the others. I have to be realistic it is hard... even impossible almost. But it does not mean the raid is over and I can enjoy a vacation!”
Cyril Despres: (FRA – KTM) 2nd, 1st OA
It wasn't a stage win, but Cyril Despres managed to put time on his closest challengers.
“It was a fairly trap-less stage even if it did not start too mal. This morning I felt sick to my stomach and the day felt like it was going to be complicated. But again, it was a stunning stage... just look at the finish with the big dune slide. Absolutely incredible! I forgot my hands were hurting and my butt too. I forgot all my aches. I saw Chaleco’s dust on km 25 at the first change in direction. He is from Chile, he won yesterday’s special stage and he’s home. He made a small mistake; that can happen to anyone. I stayed focused. The end of the stage was complicated because there were 30km of jumps. In the end it makes feel sick. It was almost like bobsleigh. 2’, 5’ or even 2hours, Marc Coma is still my main contender.”
David Frétigné: (FRA – Yam) 8th, 8th OA
“On km 29, we had to enter a rio. Before that I went off-track several times. I was obviously in the wrong rio. I really got lost. I rode 7 or 8 km more and when I realized that my notes were wrong, I turned around and met all of them: Chaleco, Ullevalseter… Everyone had gone the wrong way. We had all taken the same track. They went one way and I went the other way. I wanted to take some time and check the roadbook. I found the track back right after they did by the way. But at least I found it and I was in line with my notes. It was very important because I had a GPS point to catch. As soon as I could start my GPS I was able to get back on track. Then I was behind the others... in the dust but I went as fast as I could. I passed a few. I finish fourth today. It’s not bad. It’s damage control. Cyril (Despres) is riding smooth and easy now. All he has to do is control the situation. He is very very fast though. We are all trying so hard to catch up. But I will not give up. Everyday has new turns of events so I have to try and gain back some time and focus to go even faster. Today the end was spectacular. What an incredible dune slide! We had a great view of the finish line. The dune must have been 2 or 3 km long and at the bottom there were little ants waiting for us. It was like the endurance race of Le Touquet: full of banners and signs, full of supporters encouraging you... To take a dip like this one, you have to keep speeding so the front of the bike does not dig into the sand. You have to sit back, lean back and keep a little bit of torque and power to stay in motion. It is easier on the front of the bike that stays on course and stabilizes.”
2010 Dakar Rally Stage 6 Results
Stage 6 moved along the Pacific coast.
1. COMA (ESP) KTM 04:46:59
2. DESPRES (FRA) KTM 04:57:33 00:10:34
3. RODRIGUES (PRT) YAMAHA 04:57:37 00:10:38
4. LOPEZ CONTARDO (CHL) APRILIA 05:02:11 00:15:12
5. ULLEVALSETER (NOR) KTM 05:04:08 00:17:09
6. JAKES (SVK) KTM 05:04:25 00:17:26
7. PRZYGONSKI (POL) KTM 05:07:26 00:20:27
8. FRETIGNE (FRA) YAMAHA 05:08:36 00:21:37
9. STREET (USA) KTM 05:09:09 00:22:10
10. FARIA (PRT) KTM 05:14:58 00:27:59
2010 Dakar Overall Standings:
1. DESPRES (FRA) KTM 21:35:59
2. LOPEZ CONTARDO (CHL) APRILIA 22:18:14 00:42:15
3. RODRIGUES (PRT) YAMAHA 22:20:04 00:44:05
4. COMA (ESP) KTM 22:42:20 01:06:21
5. ULLEVALSETER (NOR) KTM 22:50:41 01:14:42
6. DUCLOS (FRA) KTM 22:57:55 01:21:56
7. STREET (USA) KTM 23:00:21 01:24:22
8. FRETIGNE (FRA) YAMAHA 23:36:56 02:00:57
9. JAKES (SVK) KTM 23:43:38 02:07:39
10. PAIN (FRA) YAMAHA 23:44:45 02:08:46
Check out the Stage 6 video highlights courtesy of
Dakar.com
