Coma continues victory charge; another stage win for DespresKTM's two leading factory riders, Marc Coma and Cyril Despres, both veterans and winners of previous Dakar rallies, were again in a class of their own in Stage 12 of the 2009 race.
Coma continues his charge to overall victory with a commanding lead of one hour 29'48"and Despres, as stage winner, dislodged Frenchman David Fretegne and is now in second place.Despres (Red Bull KTM) finished just 1'23 ahead of Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) with Gerard Farres (KTM) third (at 9'47). Fretigne is now third overall just 4 minutes 7 seconds behind Despres (at 1h33'55).
Unexpected downpour in Stage 12
Riders faced another weather phenomenon on Thursday when the Argentinean skies opened up to a downpour of rain, which, together with accompanying wind, added another difficult dimension to the day's ride. The original course had also been shortened by about 30km to bypass recently discovered archeological treasures on the original route.
Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) 1st and 2nd overall (at 1h29'48)
The navigation was really difficult today, it was like a treasure hunt and it is always a pleasure when you find the right point. Then 3 or 4 kilometres from the end it got a little less fun with a modification to the road book that wasn't too clear and I lost some minutes. I heard Frétigné's engine at the first refuelling CP and it didn't sound too good so I guessed there was a good chance of getting the second place overall.
Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) 2nd (at 1'23) 1st overall
It started to rain this morning at breakfast and we were a little bit worried what that would do to the special. . Fortunately it wasn't too bad. There were some places where it was a little muddy, but nothing serious. The thing that made today difficult was the navigation - particularly at the end. I don't think the road book was wrong, just difficult to interpret. The sand was also very soft which didn't make life any easier!
Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) 13th (at 27'24) 35th overall (at 13h10'18)
As planned I waited at the start of the Cyril (Despres) to pass. Marc (Coma) passed me at km 90 but must have gone wrong afterwards because we arrived at CP1 together. I did the rest of the special with Marc in sight - except right at the end when it wasn't too clear to find the pass.
Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) 15th (at 32'40) 7th overall (at 2h27'57)
I waited for Marc and then lost him again and spent the whole day alone. Then at the end I really struggled to get the last waypoint. At one moment I was 300 metres away but there was a cliff between me and it - it was extremely frustrating.
Stage 13 - Friday a long special and plenty of cacti Covering territory used in other rallies, the penultimate stage on Friday, from Argentina's La Rioja to Cordoba, is likely to attract a lot of local support. Riders will need their full attention to work their way through the cactus country including a physically draining 545 km special.
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