Tra Antofagasta e Copiapo Marc Coma è riuscito a sfruttare abilmente la posizione di partenza vincendo la sua terza speciale di quest’anno, consolidando leggermente la sua leadership. Ormai a giocarsi la vittoria sembrano essere Marc Coma, Cyril Despres e Francisco Lopez. All’arrivo il campione in carica, consapevole che la situazione può portare a un punto morto, ha espresso una certa irritazione: "Succhiare la ruota esiste nel ciclismo, non nei Rally Raid”. Quarto di tappa, Helder Rodrigues occupa la stessa posizione in classifica generale, ma a quasi 20' dal pilota cileno. Il portoghese è ancora un buon candidato per il podio, a differenza del suo connazionale Goncalves, il vincitore della tappa di Iquique: è uscito di scena per una caduta in cui si è rotto la clavicola. Frans Verhoeven si allontana dalle posizioni che contano, dopo aver passato molte ore a lavorare sulla sua BMW all’inizio della tappa. Jonah Street e Jordi Viladoms vedono anche loro peggiorare la situazione dopo questa gara. Si riprende invece Pal-Anders Ullevalseter. Il norvegese inizia ad abituarsi al suo 450cc, facendo segnare il 5° tempo di tappa.
Subito dopo il giorno di riposo, nella giornata che ha portato da Arica ad Antofagasta, una delle città che lo aveva già visto vittorioso in passato, Lopez ha regalato un brivido ai suoi sostenitori raggiungendo la sua quinta vittoria in una Dakar. In una prova speciale ridotta a 273 km, il pilota cileno è riuscito, con la sua Aprilia, a segnare il miglior tempo per la prima volta quest’anno, avvicinandosi ai due attuali leader. Al suo arrivo, ha chiuso con un margine di 2'21''su Despres e 3’45 su Coma. Ad ogni modo, Coma resta sempre in testa con 7'24'' davanti a Despres, che oggi ha guadagnato un minuto abbondante. Buona notizia per Pal-Anders Ullevalseter che conclude con l’ottavo tempo della giornata e rientra nella Top 10. Esce invece dal “club”Jonah Street, che al CP3 accusava un forte ritardo per un problema al motore. David Casteu è già molto indietro, ma i problemi sembrano essere il pane quotidiano del pilota Sherco, che anche in questa tappa ha avuto problemi con il cambio. Alex Zanotti riesce finalmente a mantenere una costanza di risultati. Con il 27° posto in questa settima tappa della Dakar 2011 è risalito fino alla quarantesima posizione. Buone prove anche per Gerard Farres e Alain Duclos, rispettivamente dodicesimo e quindicesimo al traguardo.
A thick fog on the morning of the 13th january caused the start to be delayed for almost 3 hours. Only when the helicopters were able to take off, the start was given free. All that time the bikers were waiting at the start. The stage was very fast. Fast mountain tracks which could be ridden full throttle. After the last fuel stop the route changed to sand dunes. 70 tough kilometers long. Just before the finish there was a waypoint which wasn’t mentioned in the roadbook.
Although in this phase of the rally the stages are the toughest ones, they are also the most beautiful ones. The landscape around Copiapio is breathtaking. The first bike left La Serena at 05.25 hours. The special started at 07.00 hours. As always just at the first light, starting in the dark is not allowed according to the regulations. The glare of the rising sun was dazzling the first riders on the track. Next to that there was a lot of fog, which caused another problem as condense came onto the goggles of the riders, and with a lot of dust in the air this is no fun. Dutchmen Henk Knuiman (11th overall) crashed after just 5 minutes after he started because it was so difficult to see properly.
At the end of the restday, in the bivac you still hear the sounds of wrenching, welding and hard work. Also at Dakarsport / Team Honda Europe. Vadim Pritulyak has arrived late in de afternoon, and his bike needs a lot of work. He is lucky when ASO puts him on the startinglist for the 8th special, as he did not return from the stage on time. When Henk Hellegers tells him the good news, he gets a big high-five from Vadim. Pritulyak had leaking fueltanks, causing him to loose a lot of petrol. After a long wait and a lot of help from other competitiors and the crowds he managed to reach the finish after 13 hours. In the mean time he wasn’t so lucky as Jurgen and had a collission with a horse.. The second part of the connection went along very high mountainpaths, with difficult trailsections, so he and a French competitior decided to go back to Mendoza and use the road to ride to Valparaiso.
The last competitors are still battling to make it to the bivouac in time. Arriving too late means you’re out, the rest day cannot be used make a late arrival. All Team Honda Europe riders are in, except Vadim Pritulyak, who’s still underway in the 400 km long liaison to Valparaiso. (Which is partially off-road)
Sabato 24 gennaio spettacolo raddoppiato al Palasport Fiera di Genova. Il 2° round del mondiale Enduro Indoor sarà accompagnato dall’evento riservato ai migliori piloti under23 del campionato europeo. L’enduro cosiddetto “da salotto” torna a conquistare le tribune italiane e precisamente quelle dell’arena del Palasport Fiera di Genova.
After a tough fourth day only 150 of the original 270 bikes and quads could continue their race. And even less will have survived the fifth day. What was feared from the fifth stage turned out to be true, as again for many is was a struggle to finish today.
After a very fast first part of the stage the terrain and the navigation changes. Only after the second tankstop this changed, as the last kilometers were very tough. Frans Verhoeven, who has fought back from 18th to place 4 in the general rankings expected this kind of ending for the amateur teams when he arrived in the bivac at night. “It was a nice stager, but it will be a struggle to finish for everyone!” As we write all members of Dakasport / Team Honda Europe have reached the bivac, exept for Vadim Pritulyak! The last 20 kilometers were the hardest part, throught difficult sand dunes. We hope our Kazach manages to get through and find the bivac. Today also the first Bowler Nemesis has broken down, with Tim and Tom Coronel out of the race. Due to the neutralization, they did get a starting time for the sixth stage though..
Mick Extance is by far the most experienced rider in the Dakarsport/Team Honda Europe. Since 2002 he’s been in the Dakar every year. Always in the top 50, his best result was the 26th place overall in 2006. Mick (46) has been riding motocross and enduro his whole life. He was European Enduro champion in 2002, and won a gold medal and two silver medals in the International Sixdays.