Friday 9 January 6th leg: Antofagasta - IquiqueLink section: 322 km – Special: 69 km – Neutralisation: 22 km – Special: 227 km – Link section: 48 km – Total: 688 km The 6th leg of the Dakar continues its way northwards towards the port of Iquique, where the riders will spend their rest day. After leaving first this morning, Marc Coma had a minor crash 300m from the start and had some problems getting back on the pace. But the KTM rider is tough and quickly recovered. The navigation quickly got tricky and Marc opened the way, followed by Joan Barreda who shadowed him all the way and is still 12’ ahead of the KTM rider in the overall standings. It was easier for those following behind who were able to catch up. While Marc finished 8th and Barreda 6th, it was Helder Rodrigues (Honda) who took the laurels and the stage win, a first on Honda for the Portugese rider. ”I set off behind and really pushed to catch the guys at the front who were going really fast. I felt really good on the Honda. I managed to keep up the fast pace to the end of the Special and it paid off. “ Toby Price (KTM) managed to finish second after eating a little dust. “When I managed to overtake a several riders, I had a clear road ahead that enabled me to clock up a good time while remaining very calm. I even managed to navigate without getting lost, which really surprised me”, he laughs. Paolo Goncalves, who came third, found the Special with its mountain section dangerous and treacherous. Pablo Quintanilla (KTM) in fourth is still chugging along nicely. Svitko (KTM) in 5th, Barreda (Honda) in 6th, Israel (Honda) in 7th and Coma (KTM) in 8th. Alessandro Botturi is the first of the Yamaha riders, in twelfth place ahead of Alain Duclos (Sherco). In quad, this last leg before the rest day went to Ignacio Casale ahead of Rafal Sonik, still streets ahead on the leader board, and Sergio La Fuente. Mahommed Abu Issa was forced to withdraw yesterday. TOMORROW’S STAGE
REST DAY
Copiapó (CHI)
For this exceptional part of the race, marked by the bivouac stop in Iquique and the Bolivian podium in Uyuni, separate rest days will be observed: 10th January for the motorcycles and quads and 12th January for cars and trucks. However, on Sunday 11th January, all the categories will be back on the race, competing in a different stage. Everyone will have taken part in a marathon stage by then.
Helder Rodrigues
1ST 3:40'10
I started out from behind, but I caught up with the riders who were opening the road. They were very quick, but I also had the speed to catch them. I’m pleased with the way it turned out and was very calm until the end. It’s rest-day tomorrow, which we really need, to get the energy back and plan next the second week as well as possible. I want to keep attacking and claw back a bit of time in the overall
Paulo Goncalves
3RD + 1'42
Another fairly tough stage, especially up in the mountains. The track was very broken up, very soft, full of danger and difficult to get up. The navigation was very hard too. But in the end I’m happy with my third place today and the third overall, that’s very important for me. Today Hélder won and HRC are having a really great week, ahead overall, and winning a lot of stages. Jere and Laia are helping a lot. Next week will be harder than this one, and we will have to be very careful not to make any mistakes.
Joan Barreda
6TH + 7'20
I’m pleased to be here in Iquique and happy with the way that we have arrived here. I caught up with Marc quickly and we were together all the way from then on. There were some parts of fast track, some stretches were harder, some were like trial, and when we got to the dunes some of the other riders caught up with us and stayed there until the end. It was what we had expected but you still had to be careful. The second week will see the first days in Bolivia. It’ll be tough, and also the Iquique desert will be a tricky one for the navigation. In the end, the entrance into Argentina is not likely to be easy with some stages at over 4300 metres. There is a lot of race left, but the way to do it is the one we’ve been doing up until now.
Jeremias Israel
7TH + 8'58
It was a complicated one today. I woke up this morning feeling dizzy and not on form as I had been before. Physically I wasn’t at my best and I wasn’t able to push as hard as usual. I did what I could and I’m happy to be here in Iquique. I hope to be able to recover my energy before the second week begins.
Laia Sanz
17TH + 17'57
I knew this was going to be a good stage for me, and that’s the way it was. I eased up a bit in the second half, after having got the first part’s difficult navigation out of the way. It’s not worth taking the risk when you haven’t got it in you. Now it’s time to get some rest and make the preparations for the second week of the rally. The two marathon stages will be really difficult and we’ll have to really look after the bikes. The main thing is to stay as consistent as we’ve been until now.
Daniel Gouet
18TH + 18'42
Another tough stage, in Chile, like the one in Antofagasta yesterday, and now here we are in Iquique. I knew that there were a couple of hard stages coming up. I took it easy so that I’d be able to resist ahead of the stages in Bolivia. The second week will be a hard one. We’ll have to take care of the bike and our bodies if we want to make it through to Buenos Aires.
Results Stage 6
1 RODRIGUES HelderPORTeam HRC3:40'10
2PRICE TobyAUSKTM AUS Rally Factory+ 1'10
3GONCALVES PauloPORTeam HRC+ 1'42
4QUINTANILLA PabloCHIKTM+ 6'11
5SVITKO StefanSLOSlovnaft Team+ 6'42
6BARREDA JoanSPATeam HRC+ 7'20
7ISRAEL JeremiasCHITeam HRC+ 8'58
8COMA MarcSPAKTM Red Bull Rally Factory+ 9'14
9FARIA RubenPORKTM Red Bull Rally Factory+ 9'34
10JAKES IvanSLOMicrostep Industry Team+ 13'59
11CABRERA PatricioCHIKawasaki Chile Team+ 14'04
12BOTTURI AlessandroITAYamaha Racing+ 15'03
13DUCLOS AlainFRASherco Rally Factory+ 16'04
14VAN NIEKERK RiaanRSABrother Link KTM Rally+ 16'29
15METGE MickaelFRAYamaha Racing+ 17'09
...
17SANZ LaiaSPATeam HRC+ 17'57
18GOUET DanielCHIHonda South America Rally Team+ 18'42
19PIZZOLITO JavierARGHonda South America Rally Team+ 19'44
33AZEVEDO JeanBRAHonda South America Rally Team+41'19
Rider Standings
1 BARREDA JoanSPATeam HRC21:38'35
2COMA MarcSPAKTM Red Bull Rally Factory+ 12'27
3GONCALVES PauloPORTeam HRC+ 17'12
4QUINTANILLA PabloCHIKTM+ 29'57
5PRICE TobyAUSKTM AUS Rally Factory+ 33'44
6RODRIGUES HelderPORTeam HRC+ 36'04
7FARIA RubenPORKTM Red Bull Rally Factory+ 40'27
8SVITKO StefanSLOSlovnaft Team+ 41'27
9DUCLOS AlainFRASherco Rally Factory+ 52'56
10ISRAEL JeremiasCHITeam HRC+ 1:00'48