DAKAR STAGE TWO

The second day of the Dakar Rally took the riders straight into the dunes for a high-speed stage. Again, it was a Honda first and a KTM second, but it was a different pair from yesterday. British rider Sam Sunderland was the winner with Chile’s Chaleco Lopez on the KTM in second. Joan Barreda had a crash and still finished third on the day, retaining the overall lead. The two traditional favorites, Marc Coma (KTM) and Cyril Despres (Yam) both had trouble, but aren’t worried yet. It promises to be a long race.

Sam Sunderland:
“I’m really happy. The bike was fantastic, it’s been a great day with a mixture of different terrains, speed and technical zones. We got to the dunes which I get on really well with. It wasn’t a really long stretch, but it went well. I crossed the river which was deeper than I had expected, which got a few laughs out of the folk. But I’m really pleased for my first Dakar victory and to continue Honda’s winning streak.”

Joan Barreda:
“I knew that it was going to be a day to be on the look-out for animals. When I was about 70 km away from the finish-line, with the big hazards out of the way and the navigation through the dunes completed, I crossed a river with low-visibility and came across a cow on the curve. I tried to avoid it, but it came running out and I ran into it. It wasn’t a great impact, but it broke the higher part of the navigation, and I had to work the road book manually. The first part was really speedy and I was opening a gap over the rivals. From kilometer 250 to 300 I had to stay really focused, which I’m very happy with.”

Marc Coma:
“Today was not a perfect day. We had some small problems when I got a stone wedged between the gearbox and the gear lever. I had to stop to take it out. The bike was working okay but it cost me some minutes.”
       Classifications Stage 2
 
1      Sam Sunderland      03:42’10      ENG      HONDA      TEAM HRC
2      Chaleco López      +00’39      CHI      KTM      KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
3      Joan Barreda      +02’00      ESP      HONDA      TEAM HRC
4      Ruben Faria      +04’07      POR      KTM      KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
5      Alain Duclos      +05’51      FRA      SHERCO      Sherco Rally Factory
6      Ben Grabham      +07’15      AUS      KTM      KTM AUS Rally Factory
7      David Casteu      +07’27      FRA      KTM      Team Casteu
8      Paulo Goncalves      +07’45      PRT      HONDA      TEAM HRC
9      Marc Coma      +08’23      ESP      KTM      KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
10      Cyril Despres      +08’43      FRA      YAMAHA      Yamaha Racing