Marc Coma had warned about this even before the bivouac in Neuquén, saying that “tomorrow is one of the first really tough make or break legs of this Dakar”.The special was 506 kilometres long, between the towns of Neuquén and San Rafael, with an initial liaison of 173km, and another at the end of 84km, and so today`s leg was already down as long and testing, with the added aggravation of high temperatures and the difficult terrain.
Marc Coma had a complicated day on the fith leg of the Dakar 2009. At kilometre approximtely 60 the Team Repsol KTM rider had a puncture in a rocky zone and he had to stop to repair it. But right then the whole Team Repsol KTM got down to work to solve the lead rider`s problem. The first to help was Jordi Viladoms, who had started ten minutes behind Coma and as soon as he reached his teammate gave him his rear wheel. But ten minutes passed before Viladoms` wheel was changed onto Marc`s bike.
Passing CP1, at kilometre 230, Coma was about 18 minutes behind the fastest of the day, the Chilean Chaleco López, and lay in thirteenth position. By CP2 the Repsol rider had recovered three minutes from López, and was fifth on the special. But he had more mechanical problems, this time it was the rear brake, and right in the sand dunes, once again he lost some time. In the end he was ninth at the end of the special. With all the incidents that he went through today Coma lost 15 minutes 45 seconds to the winner, the American Street. And so now the American is second, a little over 27 minutes behind Marc Coma, the leader.
Gerard Farrés also did some team work today on this complicated stage. Farrés reached Viladoms` position at kilometre 60, where Coma had had his puncture beforehand. Farrés quickly gave his rear wheel to Viladoms and helped him to put it on his bike. After that Farrés lost valuable time mounting Viladoms`s wheel on his bike. Then Farrés had another puncture and had no more spares. That meant he had to find one among the other participants, in the end he was given one. At 14:25, local time -18:25 in Europe – Farrés passed CP1 in 159th position. At 17:47 (21:47 in Europe) Farrés passed the second control, but he still had to cover the remaining 84 kilometres of the special and another 84km of liaison. He will not reach the bivouac until after 20:30 (00:30 in Europe). Without a doubt this will be a very tough day for the Team Repsol KTM rider.
Tomorrow the riders will have to be up early again as they start at 5am to do the 76km liaison before the leg that links San Rafael with the town of Mendoza. The special, 395km long, will be very varied, with a lot of changes in the terrain and speed. The riders first enter an 50km erg of dunes and after the first CP alternate fast or very fast zones, across salt lake and narrow winding zones that rise and fall, and at the same time crossing ravines. They will also have to cross a river, depth unknown…
Marc Coma >> Audio
“I got a puncture at kilometre 60, and I have to thank Jordi Viladoms who gave me his wheel when I was repairing my own, another example of the team doing some good work together. I was then able to keep up a good pace until near the end when I had problems with the rear brake. That complicated things for me when it came to the dunes. But the important thing is that we finished. It was a very varied special, the first part had a lot of stones, and then there was a zone with navigation, and finally another part with dunes, quite complicated as there was vegetation and the ride was very testing. The death of a rider was really bad news, things like this are very unpleasant and a real pity. I do not know exactly what happened but I want to express to his family and friends that they have all my support because even though we know that this is a race and a risky sport, every time something like this happens it affects you. On the other hand I hope it is not used against the race, which is what has shappened other times, and from now on try to not let it happen again. Just today in the liaison I was thinking that the tracks were in good conditions, not as broken as in Morocco, and that means it is safer. But obviously zero risks do not exist.”
Jordi Viladoms >> Audio
“This was a complicated stage as we came across a very varied terrain, with some very technical sandy tracks and other zones cross-country. What is more things got more difficult at kilometre 60, Marc [Coma] had a puncture. I arrived to where he had stopped, we got the wheel off my bike and we put it on his, and he was able to get away quickly, which was the important thing. I personally also have to thank Gerard [Farrés], because he in turn gave me his wheel so that I could carry on when he caught me up. It became a long stage, above all because during the leg we had to keep an eye on everything, I had to grit my teeth and make sure that I did not make a mistake trying to make up some of the lost time.”
