In Peru the word Pisco usually leads to a party but the leaders of the 2012 Dakar Rally must keep the champagne on ice for one more night...
Stage Thirteen – Nazca to Pesco
The dust may now be settling on the latest edition of the desert classic but anything can still happen during the 29km of racing that remains.
In the bike race one man’s loss was another man’s gain as Cyril Despres took advantage of some gearbox trouble for Marc Coma.
“Today was always going to be difficult for me to maintain the small lead I had because I was opening the road. At the 26km mark my gearbox broke, I landed a jump and heard this awful sound from beneath me on the bike. After that I had no second or third gear and in that moment I realised that this would not be my year.” – Marc Coma
“I’m not the kind of person who derives pleasure from the problems of my team-mates and even less when it’s Marc (Coma) who is in trouble. I was surprised when I realised that I had clawed back five minutes on Marc when I saw him at the refuelling point on the stage. When I saw him at the refuelling station I saw he had dust on his face so I knew some other biker had managed to pass him already.” – Cyril Despres
Third placed biker Helder Rodrigues may be an hour behind the front runners but he proved on stage 13 that he has what it takes to get in front of his rivals.
'Winning a stage is always a great feeling and getting on the final podium is always cool' – Helder Rodrigues
“Winning a stage is always a great feeling and getting on the final podium is always cool. I know that I’m able to perform better than I have this year but today at least I got some time back on Marc and Cyril. Now I need to get my plan together for next year and that means lots of hard work. I’m thinking about bringing a new bike next year but only if I have the chance to do all the testing that requires.” – Helder Rodrigues
It looks like another Dakar win in the car class for Stephane Peterhansel but he will have Giniel de Villiers breathing down his neck all the way to Lima.
“For Dirk and myself we enjoyed another very beautiful stage with just the right degree of difficulty about it. That’s what I think a Dakar stage should be like. It was tough but that’s what we expect to find at this race. We also got stuck in the dunes and I think race leader Stephane (Peterhansel) was the only guy who didn’t get trapped today. Our little mishap only ended up costing us about six minutes so we can accept a setback like that.” – Giniel de Villiers
The final stage of the 2012 Dakar Rally will surely bring about the inevitable result of wins for Gerard de Rooj and Alejandro Patronelli in the truck and quad races respectively.
Giniel de Villiers on Stage 13 of the 2012 Dakar ©Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Dakar Digit: 29km
With only 29km of timed racing tomorrow the leaderboard is expected to shift very little on the final stage. However, last year podium places changed hands in both the bike and the quad races during the final leg of the race. Further proof that with Dakar nothing is decided until the fat lady has well and truly belted out that tune.
Want more?
- Check out Marc Coma's profile page
- Visit redbull.com's Dakar 2012 event page
- More Red Bull motor sports
- Dakar 2012: Ones to Watch | Bikes
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