Lured by the promise of tomorrow’s rest day, riders were greeted by the longest special of the rally – a grueling 373 miles with everything Dakar stands for including sand dunes and rocks, two fueling stops and seven check points as they reversed track and worked back from Iquique to Antofagasta. Cyril Despres scored his second stage victory of the 2010 Dakar by a scant 29 seconds over Marc Coma during Stage 7.
KTM's Cyril Despres (Stage 6 Photo) returned to take the win in Stage 7 of the 2010 Dakar.
AMV Red Bull KTM’s Coma was the first to depart at 7:10 a.m. for the 23-mile liaison with Despres two minutes behind. Navigation through the early stages of the unmarked dunes caused both title contenders a moment’s pause and allowed for chasing riders to catch up. At 93 miles into the special, Despres blew out the shock on the big KTM forcing the Frenchman to act as his own shock absorber for the remaining 280 miles. Not a small feat when considering a majority of this special is large, fast rocky sections that test the endurance of rider and machine.
Before Check Point 1, Despres was forced to slow up a bit and focus on just finishing giving Pal Anders Ullevalseter the best time. The Norwegian continued his fast pace to cross CP2 with the best time, but as we’ve seen day after day, it is not over until it’s over.
David Fretigne reached CP4 first and Chilean Francisco Lopez Contardo took over the honors for CP5 and CP6. But the real racing began in the last 94 miles of this challenging special as Depres and Coma returned to the front in first and second, respectively. Before the celebration could begin, the Spaniard relinquished Despres of the lead 12 miles from the finish only to lose it before the end of the special. Coma’s runner-up finish boosted him into second overall, but Despres now has a lead in the overall standings of 1:06:50 heading into the mandatory rest day.
Yamaha David Fretigne's third-place finish of Stage 7 moved him up one spot to seventh in the overall standings.
Fretigne captured third behind the two front-runners with Ruben Faria coming in fourth. Ullevalseter grabbed fifth moving up one in the overall standings to fourth. Rally PanAm's Jonah Street experienced navigational issues too, but the American's troubles resulted in a small crash. He was able to return and finish in 16th but falls one spot in the overall standings to eighth. Helder Rodrigues also suffered a small crash and lost valuable time, but the Yamaha rider was unhurt and finished in 14th retaining his third-place status in the overall standings.
Cyril Despres (FRA - KTM) 1st, 1st OA
"600 kilometers. 7h30 of timed stage. I am tired and on top of all, at km 150 I entered a large ditch and exploded the hydraulics of my shock absorber. Since km 150 I have been riding on a spring. I took all the shocks in my arms, my wrists, my neck. It was really hard before but it became close to unbearable at this point. The gap between me and Marc is small. I know that I could count on my tires. I went all the way and it looks like it paid off. The rest day will be welcome. The bike did not suffer despite the loss of hydraulics. I will have to look at all the screws and bolts but the bike took me here and that’s good."
Marc Coma (ESP - KTM) 2nd, 2nd OA
"It was a very long day. But it’s over. We made it to the rest day. We will be able to tend to the bike. We made it half way through the raid. Today, I had to be mindful of the speed to spare my tires. It was pretty hard e.g. in the dunes where I got a bit lost."
Stage 7 of the 2010 Dakar tested the riders fortitude with a physically and mentally demanding 373 miles across sand dunes and unmarked rocky sections.
1. DESPRES (FRA) KTM 06:34:14 00:00:00
2. COMA (ESP) KTM 06:34:43 00:00:29
3. FRETIGNE (FRA) YAMAHA 06:39:14 00:05:00
4. FARIA (PRT) KTM 06:43:24 00:09:10
5. ULLEVALSETER (NOR) KTM 06:45:24 00:11:10
6. PELLICER (ESP) YAMAHA 06:48:21 00:14:07
7. PEDRERO GARCIA (ESP) KTM 06:50:59 00:16:45
8. BERGLUND (SWE) KTM 06:52:52 00:18:38
9. PAIN (FRA) YAMAHA 06:56:10 00:21:56
10. SVITKO (SVK) KTM 07:00:40 00:26:26
2010 Dakar Rally Overall Standings:
1. DESPRES (FRA) KTM 28:10:13 00:00:00
2. COMA (ESP) KTM 29:17:03 01:06:50
3. RODRIGUES (PRT) YAMAHA 29:30:21 01:20:08
4. ULLEVALSETER (NOR) KTM 29:36:05 01:25:52
5. LOPEZ CONTARDO (CHL) APRILIA 29:41:17 01:31:04
6. DUCLOS (FRA) KTM 30:00:19 01:50:06
7. FRETIGNE (FRA) YAMAHA 30:16:10 02:05:57
8. STREET (USA) KTM 30:16:41 02:06:28
9. PEDRERO GARCIA (ESP) KTM 30:35:56 02:25:43
10. PELLICER (ESP) YAMAHA 30:36:35 02:26:22
Highlight video courtesy of
Dakar.com
