Dakar 2014
Stage two: San Luis – San Rafael
Link section: 304 km – Special: 359 km – Link section: 62 km – Total: 724 km
A tough day for the big guns
As the temperature climbed to over 40°C, the motorcycle contingent arrived at the San Rafael bivouac after a splendid Special taking in the dunes of Nihuil. The second leg of this 2014 Dakar has already taken its toll on some of the front runners. After hitting a stone and breaking his gear box, Marc Coma (KTM) lost 8 minutes, coming in 9th just ahead of Cyril Després (Yamaha), who is in bad shape after a crash and looking to his osteopath for some relief.
The stage victory went to a Honda rider once again but this time the winner was Sam Sunderland, whose impressive performance was apparent from the TV helicopter images. Back on the kind of terrain he feels at home with, nice rolling tracks interspersed with dunes, Chile’s Chaleco Lopez took second place. Chaleco, who is comfortable on his new KTM, moves up to second overall and is determined to stay in the race for this year’s title.
Yesterday’s winner Joan Barreda set out first and stayed ahead almost all the way. However, close to home, on a fast, sandy track, the Catalan rider came out of a blind corner into a herd of cows. Startled, he swerved into the tall grass but the cows, even more startled than he was, did likewise and he collided with the slowest animal to escape… There was no major damage done but the roadbook scroller was broken and Joan had to turn the pages by hand. He nevertheless came in third ahead of Ruben Faria (KTM), Alain Duclos (Sherco), Ben Graham (KTM), David Casteu (KTM) and reigning FIM Cross Country Rallies World Champion Paulo Gonçalves (Honda), who was dogged by engine trouble and also had a crash.
In the Quad class, Marcos Patronelli on his Yamaha was the undisputed leader, ahead of Lucas Bonetto (Honda) and Rafal Sonik (Yamaha).
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