A day less but another day on the road. Just two legs left before the longed-for end in Buenos Aires now that the 12th stage is over in the Dakar 2009. The really restarted in Argentina after the suspension of yesterday`s stage and the whole Team Repsol KTM is still in the race with Marc Coma adding another 5 minutes to his lead in the overall; he now leads the race with a gap of 1 hour 29 minutes over the second placed Despres, France, who finished second behind his compatriot Fretigne.
Today`s leg, shortened 40km by the organisers, connected the towns of Fiambalá and La Rioja. In total 213km of special, with an initial liaison of 4km and another of 261km at the end. The riders in the Fiambalá bivouac awoke to find heavy rain but there was no significant amount of mud during the whole day. Today was a difficult special, where the navigation came to the fore, as there were passes between ravines and gullies, as well as dunes and the feared white dunes, with a lot of tracks to choose from and cross-country sections. In summary today`s special was very difficult, and any mistake would pay a high price; that is with a significant loss of time.
Unfortunately that is what happened to Jordi Viladoms. The Team Repsol KTM rider started out in fourth place this morning from the bivouac in Fiambalá and in the fight for a podium finish in Buenos Aires, and he knew that the leg would be especially difficult, even so the first thing that Viladoms had to do was to wait for his teammate Marc Coma, who started in seventh place behind Viladoms. Once they were united they did a few kilometres until the fesh-fesh appeared, and then they separated. Viladoms then made a navigational mistake and went into a ravine to find a way point together with Verhoeven, but he had to retrace his steps to find the right way and this meant that he lost 32 minutes 40 seconds to the winner of the leg, the Frenchman Despres. Viladoms finished fifteenth today and so is out of the fight for the podium, but he is seventh in the overall.
Marc Coma had a day without any incidents compared to Viladoms, although he had to pay special attention concentrate as he knows that everything can get very complicated at any moment, as he admitted at the end in La Rioja. The navigation and the terrain made it easy for mistakes to be made, but Coma overtook other riders – he started seventh – riding alone and he finished the leg with an even bigger advantage – 5 minutes more. Now Despres is second as he has overtaken his compatriot Fretigne, and is 1 hour 29 minutes behind Coma.
Gerard Farrés had his best day so far in the Dakar 2009. The route was very complicated today and he knew that it was very important to follow the roadbook, this is how Farrés got an excellent third position on the leg, 9 minutes 47 seconds behind the winner Despres. Now Farrés is up to twenty-second position in the overall.
Tomorrow the leg links La Rioja and Córdoba and will be another big challenge for the riders, perhaps the last big challenge before they reach Buenos Aires. There is a first liaison of 161km then a special of 545km and then a second liaison of 47km. It is expected to be difficult; with a zone of fast tracks, the presence of dangerous cacti, tracks through many villages – where the speed has to be controlled – a lot of spectators and the ever-present radars. This is the penultimate stage and the last one that could be called decisive and where the final frights will occur. So then, maximum concentration on leg number 13 of the Dakar 2009.
Marc Coma >> Audio
“It was one of the most difficult stages we have had so far concerning the navigation, with a lot of cross-country and passes that were very difficult to find. And we even had a storm in the morning, that made us unhappy thinking about what we might come across. Then the navigation was very complicated, but I overtook other riders although I could not make contact with Cyril [Despres]. The dunes were very soft and you had to spend the whole day concentrating 100% on the whole special so that you did not make any mistakes. Towards the end there was a river to cross and that was very hard to find. I am pleased to have got through this leg, but it was one of those where you did not get a moment`s rest. Tomorrow will be another very long special.”
Jordi Viladoms >> Audio
“Today was complicated. I knew I was going to lose time and that it would not be a good day for me as I had to wait twelve minutes for Marc [Coma] to arrive, this is because it is very important to ride alongside him. We are still concentrating on our real objective in this Dakar, which is for Marc to win, that is the bottom line. However, everything was complicated as the special was not easy, with soft dunes, where I got trapped many times. The final straw was at the end, at a pass between some ravines which you approached along a track that was not very clear, as I got lost. I had to retrace my steps, then it was complicated to find the right pass. Whatever, the important thing is that we are still in the lead, and not even thinking about any other result than a win for Marc, Gerard [Farrés] had a good day too and so tomorrow he can ride behind Marc.”
Gerard Farrés >> Audio
“I really enjoyed this leg because I did not have so much pain in my hand. The Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart`s physiotherapist gave me some treatment yesterday and today I felt much better. On today`s special I began in twentieth position and with so much cross-country I found everything a lot cleaner, that made things easier and even though the navigation was very tough work I got it right. I was able to finish close behind my teammates, which is the most important thing if you want to help out when necessary.”
