Bikes and Quads first news from Dakar stage 6 10.01.2014: Dakar Rally 2014 Stage 6 TUCUMAN to SALTA January 9th, 2014 09:50 Bikes: Duclos breaks away, Coma controlling after 160 km

Dakar Rally 2014  Stage 6
TUCUMAN to SALTA
January 9th, 2014





    09:50 Bikes: Duclos breaks away, Coma controlling after 160 km

    As the riders approach the end of the first section, it seems that Marc Coma has slightly slowed his pace, since his main rivals in the general standings are under control.


It is Alain Duclos who has the bit between his teeth, confirming his position as leader over the last 50 km, with an advantage that has stretched to 3’45' over Coma. He is now followed by Michael Metge, 3’24' behind.



    09:08 Bikes: Duclos ahead after 120 km

    Sherco rider Alain Duclos, is now the current leader of the special stage with a lead of 32' over Marc Coma. In third is Joan Barreda, 1’49' behind Duclos, but in front of Juan Pedrero Garcia, who trails the Frenchman by 1’50'. Francisco Lopez also seems to be in the right group today, but his time needs to be confirmed on completion of this first section.


    08:43 Bikes: Duclos and Rodrigues behind Coma after 81 km

    Sherco rider Alain Duclos is still hot on the tail of the general standings leader. He is 49' behind whilst the Honda of Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues trails Coma by 1’37'.


The Yamaha ridden by Nicolas Metge occupies fourth place, 1’51' behind the leader, ahead of Joan Barreda Bort (Honda), 1’59' behind Coma. Cyril Despres is in 13th, 2’52' behind his eternal rival.



    08:21 Bikes: Pedrero Garcia third after 81 km

    The Spanish Sherco rider has moved into provisional third place at this point in the special stage, 2’03' behind Marc Coma. Another arrival in the top 5, Bolivian rider Juan Carlos Salvatierra (Speedbrain) trails Coma by 2’45' in fifth place.



    08:11 Bikes: Still Coma

    With a time of 57’10' for 81 Kilometres, his lightning pace means that Marc Coma is still leader, 1’37' ahead of Helder Rodrigues and 2’40' in front of Jordi Viladoms.



    08:03 Bikes: Provisional places after 43 km

    Marc Coma leads at present, 32” in front of Alain Duclos, 51” ahead of Helder Rodrigues and 58” in front of Jeremias Israel Esquerre. Cyril Despres has lost almost 2 minutes to the leader, as have Joan Barreda and Olivier Pain. However, Francisco Lopez has not reached this point of the stage yet…


    07:42 Bikes: A quick start!

    Marc Coma has reached the first CP, 43 km after the start of the special having covered the distance in 27’38', which means he is riding at an average of 95 kmph!



    07:40 Bikes: And what about the ladies?

    The best placed in the general standings is Laia Sanz in the bike race, lying in a fine 22nd position 4 hours and 2 minutes behind Marc Coma. Less fortunate, Rosa Romero Font withdrew yesterday after breaking down and many other trials and tribulations.


Also not enjoying success, but still hanging in there is Camelia Liparotti in the quad category, where she has been hindered by problems mainly linked to navigation. She is in last place in the quad general standings this Friday.



    07:35 Bikes: Beyond the top 10

    Once again, there are plenty of major names in this group! Just behind ninth placed David Casteu, Helder Rodrigues leads this part of the standings, 1 hour 58 minutes behind the leader, ahead of Daniel Gouet, Cyril Despres and Stefan Svitko.


Time lost and penalties have pushed this group back to around two hours behind the front of the race. All the riders are within 30 minutes of each other. It will be big battle today, at the very least for honour’s sake!



    07:10 Bikes: Start of the bike special stage

    400 kilometres of special stage split into two sections by a 62-km long neutralised zone are on the day’s menu. At 7.00 AM local time, Marc Coma kicked off proceedings for the first section, ahead of Jordi Viladoms and Helder Rodrigues.


    06:56 Bikes: Lançado o deslocamento Moto/Quadri.

    Às 6:00, hora local, a primeira motocicleta, a de Marc Coma, atual líder da classificação geral deu a largada da etapa rumo ao setor cronometrado. No total são 92 motocicletas e 20 quadriciclos que foram cadastrados para a corrida desta sexta-feira.



    06:20 Bikes: Bike and quad link stage underway

    At 6.00 AM local time, the first bike ridden by Marc Coma, current leader of the general standings, set out in the direction of the timed section. In total, 92 bikes and 20 quads were cleared to start the stage this Friday.




QUADS


        09:24 Quads: Duel between Casale and Lafuente after 81 km

        The leaders of the quad general standings are on the attack, pulling along the rest of the pack in their wake. , Casale leads his Uruguayan rival by 1’31'. The third placed rider is now Rafal Sonik, 2’02” behind the stage leader. Chilean Gallegos Lozic occupies fourth place, 2’50” behind Casale.


The fourth placed rider in the general standings, Sebastian Husseini, is currently in 15th position, almost 5 minutes behind the stage leader.



- ASO  also photo