The rest day now seems a distant memory as the eighth stage of the 2011 Dakar Rally push the field along a timed special weighing in at over 500km.
As the stage finished at the bivouac in Copiapo everybody took their time to pay a visit to see the rescue pod used to rescue the 33 miners trapped underground in this region last year.
With the route back to Argentina now in sight, it’s now time for those with dreams of glory to concoct their own escape routes.
After leading this year’s Dakar since day one, Carlos Sainz finally surrendered his first place to team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Carlos got stuck in the dunes for the second time on the stage just 5km from the finish line and Nasser was on hand to take full advantage. After snapping at the heals of Carlos all the way, The Fresh Prince of the Dakar Rally now enjoys a five-minute lead.
Giniel De Villiers was another member of the Volkswagen team to end the day with a smile as he overtook Stephane Peterhansel to claim the last podium spot in the overall standings.
A stage win on the bikes for Marc Coma extended his overall lead with another impressive ride. Marc managed to catch up with Chaleco Lopez and Cyril Despres on the marathon stage as the three front runners rode together for the majority of the stage.
Marc eventually finished 1m 55s in front of Cyril while Chaleco did enough to cement his place in the podium positions. Fourth-placed rider Helder Rodrigues will not let any of the front three rest however as the Portuguese biker continues to stay in the hunt.
A couple of uncharacteristically bad days for Team Kamaz were consigned to the history books as the all-powerful Russians re-exerted their dominance in the truck class. Vladimir ‘The Tsar’ Chagin put in a faultless drive to leap from third to first place in the overall standings.
There was also a familiar name returned to top of the pops in the quad class. Alejandro Patronelli, brother of last year’s winner Marcos, did the business to reclaim the overall lead in his class.
Spotlight on Red Bull riders
It seems the riders in first and second place in the bikes hold different views over what happened on the route between Antofagasta and Copiapo. While Cyril Despres seems to think that it was only him and Chaleco Lopez doing the navigating, Marc Coma insists it was a three-way deal.
First off let’s hear from Cyril…
“During today’s stage Chaleco led the way on all the quick parts and I did the dunes.
“The problem with navigation is it becomes like in cycling when riders try to stick to your back wheel like leeches. Well, the same thing happens in rally raids as well.
“It’s all just part of the game and today the game was to stay right behind following my tracks.”
Meanwhile race leader Marc remembers doing his fair share of navigation on the stage.
“Cyril, Chaleco and myself all rode together and took turns to led the way. It was a hard stage with plenty of mileage and dunes so I was happy we managed to maintain a good pace.
“In the end everything turned out fine. I’m glad to get over the line of a 500km special because that’s a hell of a long way.”
Dakar’s Just Deserts
The tough times continue for Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel and his BMW X3. Nobody following the race can doubt that ‘Peter’ has the talent to keep pace at the front of the field but a series of problems has undermined his race.
After picking up four punctures during the previous stage there was a similar story of woe after arriving in Copiapo.
“Just for a change we got our first puncture right at the start of the stage today but that was nothing compared to what happened later. We ended up with our engine overheating which became a big problem
“Two more punctures along the way meant once again we finished without a spare tire. One more puncture and it would have been curtains for us.”
Word from the Waypoint
“I’m happy to win the stage and take the lead in the general standings. I can control the race now.”
New race leader in the car class Nasser Al-Attiyah comes out with a real statement of intent.
Today’s Dakar Lucky Number: 4
So completely perfect was the ride of Vladimir Chagin that only four vehicles in any other class managed to complete the day’s stage quicker than him. The Tsar was quicker than every car except the four Volkswagen Touaregs and even beat Marc Coma’s 450cc KTM by four minutes.
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Photofiles
Want more?
- Listen to Bivouac Chat: Our exclusive Dakar Rally podcast
- Head to a section of redbull.com dedicated entirely to the 2011 Dakar
- Check the live GPS positions of the Dakar participants
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