5e étape : Tupiza (Bolivie) -Oruro
Liaison : 245 km - Spéciale : 447 km - Total : 683 km
The 2017 Dakar will go down in the annals as a thriller full of twists in the plot… First of all, on Thursday evening, the verdict fell and the entire Honda Team of Joan Barreda, Paolo Gonçalves, Ricky Brabec and Michael Metge, plus Argentina’s Caimi, took a penalty of one hour for leaving the road book course during the third special, the one won by Joan Barreda, and refuelling during the neutralisation. For team KTM, which has the evidence for this infringement, the sanction is not severe enough in relation to the rules, so the story may not end there…
Today, the Tupiza - Oruro special was abridged at km 292 because of bad weather that destroyed a lot of the trails in the region, causing the fords to overflow and rendering them impassable.
The fifth stage in Bolivia brought a new winner, Sam Sunderland (KTM), the only top rider not to lose his way in the dunes of the Altiplano, a plateau of the Cordillera de los Andes between 3500 and 4000 metres above sea level. It is the British rider’s second stage win at a Dakar and he has shown steady form from the start.
Quintanilla (Husqvarna), de Soultrait (Yamaha), Walkner (KTM) and Barreda (Honda) went “gardening” in the Bolivian sand. Barreda, who had an overall lead of 15’ over Quintanilla on Thursday, reached the finish 37 minutes adrift of Sunderland after losing his way at km 150, and is now 1h12’ behind the British rider, who has moved up to the top of the leader board.
In quad, Kees Koolen took the stage ahead of Gustavo Gallego.
Judith Tomaselli