Yesterday, Tuesday, the organisers of the Dakar 2009 made a decision to cancel the 11th leg between Copiapó and Fiambalá. The weather forecast was for persistent fog in the zone around the bivouac and with the need to cross the Andes before the start of the special on Wednesday to reach Fiambalá (Argentina), the ASO reckoned that the best option was to cancel.
This decision meant that the Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart drivers, Nani Roma & Lucas Cruz, and the Team Repsol KTM riders –Marc Coma, Jordi Viladoms & Gerard Farrés – left the bivouac along the usual liaison road, and instead of tackling a difficult leg in Chile went directly to the border and along the tracks that the buses carrying the press and organisers had used the night before.
The cars, motorbikes and trucks that were left in the race began on a hard gravel track that crossed the folds and valleys of the Andes in Chile. The frontier crossing was on a mountain pass where there had been freezing temperatures the previous night.
The cars and motorbikes climbed the Tres Cruces, along a track that was getting in worse condition as the hours passed, to a mountain top at a height of 4 748 metres, the imposing Paso San Francisco, that marks the frontier with Argentina. From there, Coma, Viladoms, Farrés, Roma & Cruz enjoyed a road with a good asphalt surface, across a plateau that took them to the valley of the Río Fiambalá, and there they will spend the night.
The plan was for this leg to be a marathon stage and so now the assistance teams have two days to reach the next bivouac, in La Rioja 790km. from Copiapó. The teams will use a lower moutain pass to cross the Andes.
Tomorrow, Thursday, the second part of the original marathon stage will be held, and so the teams will have to make sure that the vehicles are in good condition for the special of 253km, that takes them to a reunion with their service trucks in La Rioja, in the region of Gran Chaco (north-east Argentina), at the foot of the Sierra de Velasco.
The leg starts a few kilometres from the bivouac, but includes a liaison of 261km. to La Rioja where the assistance teams can get down to serious work on the motorbikes and cars. The leg goes back to the Andes to cross a couple of controls close to Palo Blanco, before turning towards the east to finish in El Puesto. The final liaison to Salado, Almogasta and Villa Mazán on the way to La Rioja, to the north of the Sierra de Velasco, at a height of 540m above sea level.
Marc Coma >> Audio
“Today was a day without any complications, after the leg was cancelled yesterday. We began at 8am and we did the whole day as a liaison, enjoying some beautiful countryside on an extraordinary mountain pass. Everything went well and now we have left Chile behind, and we are Fiambalá, in Argentina again. Tomorrow we have a leg that is expected to be complicated, and so we will continue to take things step by step, counting down the days to the finish.”
Jordi Viladoms >> Audio
“Yesterday the stage was cancelled because there was a big risk if we had delayed the start because of the fog. We began at 8am to do the 500km along roads. We crossed the Andes and we reached a height of 4 700 metres, it was curious. It was a long liaison and at the top you could feel the effects of the altitude and I got a headache. But we got a chance to look at the beautiful countryside, with the typical vegetation seen at high altitudes and a very nice lake. Then we went down to Fiambalá, and it was very hot. Now we have to see how the bikes are, with tomorrow`s stage in mind, as today was supposed to be a marathon leg, and although we have not been racing the assistance teams are not here to help out and get everything ready for the leg tomorrow.”
Gerard Farrés >> Audio
“Today`s special was suspended, and we did the liaison on roads. The truth is that this is very positive for the team as it is one leg fewer. And for me in particular, even more positive as after a very hard day on Tuesday, when I did not know if I could finish the stage because of the problems I had with my wrist, today`s rest was very welcome. Now there are only three legs left and I hope I can finish them without any problems. I am very pleased with having got this far, and let`s see whether I do not have so much pain in my hand tomorrow.”
Nani Roma >> Audio
“Today was a stage that was just a liasion, a formality which in the end seemed very long, but it was very beautiful. We crossed the Andes at a height of 4 700 metres, and we could enjoy the beautiful countryside. Nothing special happened, everything is OK and now we just want to start tomorrow`s leg so that we can concentrate on the race. The fact that we have to do it after a liaison means that we do not have to work on the bike, because today was a marathon leg, but during the day nothing happened.”
