The Dakar has only just started and this is what the participating teams have been reminded of on the second day. If Marc Coma was fortunate yesterday, he was not affected by the many punctures, today Lady Luck turned her back on the Team Repsol KTM rider, as he suffered from a oil leak on the radiator of his KTM 690 Rally and in consequence lost more than 12 minutes. Coma had to stop in the middle of the special to repair the leak something that cost him some valuable time. In spìte of this the Repsol rider still leads the overall classification with a gap of 13 minutes 47 seconds over the Dutch rider Verhoeven, today`s winner, on the longest stage of the whole rally – above all because of the 600km liaison at the end of the special.
Jordi Viladoms, who was 29 today, did a stage without making any mistakes and so set the fourth best time of the day. Thanks to this result, 1 minute 33 seconds behind Verhoeven, the Team Repsol KTM rider has climbed to 11th position in the overall classification. Viladoms was one of the riders who was affected by a puncture yesterday, this made him lose more than 20 minutes.
The third rider in the Team Repsol KTM, Gerard Farrés, was 11th today and so is able to forget about the many problems he had on the first day of the Dakar 2009.
Today`s special, with the first bike starting at 6.15am from the very bivouac in Santa Rosa de la Pampa, had two controls – the first at kilometre 15 and the second at 108 – ended after 237 Km.. Then there was a liaison of 600 Km. To the final destination on the coast at Puerto Madryn. The stage was very similar to yesterday`s, on fast flat tracks, with wet sandy zones across streams, dry lakes and lagoons. The first cross-country sections appeared today and the navigation became more important. This was the most southerly point of the rally, as tomorrow (Monday) the third leg is north-east bound, away from the coast and towards the Andes.
The third leg between Puerto Madryn and Jacobacci, is 694km long, of these 616km are timed. In theory most of the leg is between 1 000m – 1 500m. The start of this special is very fast; and the climb gets steeper as the day goes on and there will be a marked change in the terrain with the appearance of stones and sand. There will also be the first hard tracks in the mountains, where the riders will have to pay special attention to the tyres and possible punctures. All in all, many miles of very technical riding.
Marc Coma >> Audio
“I had a serious problem because at kilometre 100 my oil radiator sprang a leak. I do not know why, as I did not notice anything out of the ordinary, but actually there was a loss of oil pressure and that is an important problem. At kilometre 108 I stopped to try and solve the problem with a paste we carry. In the end I half-solved the problem, but it began to leak again. Fortunately in the end a member of the public gave me a litre of oil and that saved my rally. I am pleased because normally when you have a problem of these proportions you are out of the race. It was not the case though, we finished the leg and now the real Dakar will appear because tomorrow we start to find what will be a real tough rally, very tough. The rest of the day was real hard because I had to keep an eye on the oil, stopping to check and add more oil, not asking for 100 % from the engine because it was very limited. The special was similar to yesterday`s, not so fast and with one section that needed navigation across country. Terrain that was similar to yesterday`s, sandy with a lot of dust that demanded a higher level of riding.”
Jordi Viladoms >> Audio
“Today we had a leg that was more varied. We can be pleased with the result because after a bad stage like yesterday`s you realise that you are going to have big problems, which is that you are going to come across lot of dust, and this was the case. I had to overtake the riders in front as fast as I could but always taking care because there was very little visibility. The cross-country zone went well too. In the end I was surprised to see that I finished fourth, and I am pleased because I think things can go well. The result was better than I had thought. Today`s special combined fast parts and winding sandy tracks with a series of tracks across fenced fields, and you had to pay a lot of attention to find the way out. It was a much more complete special than yesterday`s.”
Gerard Farrés >> Audio
“Today was a better day than yesterday, and from the beginning to the end. The only bad thing was that there was a lot of dust. The fact that I started out last was that it made my ride much more difficult, but I was able to pick up a good pace, ride a little more calmly so that I avoided the problem I had yesterday with the tyres. In the end I had no problems, and I was able to finish, and from now on I hope to get better results.”
