The bivouac may have stayed put in Copiapo but there was still plenty of exploring for the competitors to do on the Dakar as the pilots took on a 200km loop around the focal point of the Chilean mining industry.
The ninth stage was right out of the Dakar handbook offering up all types of sand as well as camel grass, gravel section perilous for punctures as well as dried out river beds to negotiate.
The intense battle for top spot in the car class continued as team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah and Carlos Sainz traded blows at the front of the field. Second placed Sainz caught and overtook Nasser when the Qatari driver suffered a puncture.
The overall race leader was back in Sainz's rearview mirrors before long, however, and even managed to pass the Spaniard just metres from the end of the stage.
Carlos can still celebrate chipping 2m off Nasser’s lead to bring the overall deficit down to 3m 18s. Quite simply the gap in this two-horse race is peanuts as we prepare to re-enter Argentina tomorrow.
There also less than a Rizla paper between the leading duo in the bike class after a day which saw all the top riders suffer a navigation black-out. After the first 10 bikers were sent out on the stage in unison, they all managed to get lost at the same point before finally being helped back on track by the next wave of ten bikes.
As we wait for the Argentinian dunes of Fiambala, it's still Marc Coma who leads from Cyril Despres but only by 8m 14s.
Over in the truck class, the results of stage nine saw two Kamaz team-mates exchange first and second place. It is now Firdaus Kabirov (two-time Dakar winner) who leads Vladimir Chagin (seven-time Dakar winner) by 4m 11s. The threat posed to the Russians after back-to-back stage wins by Ales Loprais died out after the Czech truck lost several hours on the Copiapo loop.
With the average gap between first and second place in the car, bike and truck class standing at 5m it’s a completely different story in the quad category. Argentinian Alejandro Patronelli can expect a hero’s reception when he crosses the Andes tomorrow after a building up a lead of over an hour.
Spotlight on Red Bull riders
While Helder Rodrigues’ fourth place in the bikes looks under little threat his battle for a place on the podium looks over after a problematic fourth stage.
“The day started well for me again. I was riding really well right up until the very last section.
“I ended the stage by riding 9km in the wrong direction and by the time I had got back on course I had run out of petrol. Luckily, Felipe Prohens stopped to give me some fuel.
“It's terrible. 15km from the end of the stage, I was in first place but I still ended up losing a lot of time on third-placed Chaleco Lopez. That’s rallying for you!”
© VW Motorsport
Dakar’s Just Deserts
Not only was there history to be found in the bivouac in Copiapo, but there was also a world-famous celebrity. Playing guest of honour in the bivouac as the 2011 Dakar Rally stopped off at the hub of the Chilean mining industry was Mario Gomez – (not that Mario Gomez)
Mario was the oldest member of the group of 33 miners stuck under Chilean soil for what seemed like an eternity last year. The rescue operation which brought Mario and his chums back to the surface just four months ago captivated the planet.
Mario posed for photos with the Fenix 3 rescue pod which plucked him from a depth of 700 metres below ground and back to the arms of his wife Liliana as he become the ninth miner to be rescued.
Word from the Waypoint
“It's awesome, totally awesome. It's what we come here to do, to do the best we can and to be first is the best anyone can do. To win a stage of the Dakar is a pretty special feeling.” - After winning the stage, biker Johan Street brings a bit of U.S. style razzamatazz back to the bivouac with him.
Today’s Dakar Lucky Number: 15.43
The longest distance any vehicle has spent airborne at this year’s Dakar was recorded on the loop around Copiapo. When Carlos Sainz’s hit a dune crest on the stage all four wheels of his Race Touareg 3 were off the ground for a total of 15.43 metres.
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