It took no time for the 2012 Dakar Rally to fizz back to life after a well-deserved rest day in Copiapo.
Stage Eight – Copiapo to Antofagasta
After a day of rest in Copiapo, it was on to Stage Eight and things got very messy for the leading bikers at the 11km mark of the timed special stage. Cyril Despres was among those who got stuck in the mud.
“There was a torrent of mud between the inspection of the reconnaissance car two days ago and today. Therefore, it did not appear in the road book and I was the first to fall into the trap. There was no way I could have avoided it.” – Cyril Despres
Another biker to fall into the same trap as Cyril was Portugal’s Helder Rodrigues.
“Everyone thought today was going to be a calm day, but it turned out to be quite difficult. There was a lot of navigational work, especially a muddy area in a river near the beginning of the stage. Many riders got stuck in there, it was incredible. But I am still third in the general classification, and that is great.” – Helder Rodrigues
One of the front runners who kept himself clean through the early obstacle on the route was Marc Coma. Things went so well for Marc on stage eight that he ended the day with a lead of 1m 26sec over Cyril in the overall standings.
“A very long special stage. I was lucky not to lose too much time in the mud and then I saw I could open a gap, so I attacked really hard. But towards the end I noticed I had engine problems, so I slowed down a bit to ensure I would make it to the finish. This is my 20th special victory: a nice figure. Yet it is not winning specials that counts, but winning the race. I know there is still a long week of racing ahead.” – Marc Coma
Giniel de Villiers showed no signs of rust after the rest day as he once again got the most out of his Toyota Hilux to keep himself at the business end of the leaderboard.
“After a week and a day of the Dakar we’re 37 minutes back on the race leader Stephane Peterhansel. In Dakar terms that’s not an insurmountable lead, when I won the Dakar in 2009 I was 41 minutes down at one point. A lot of things can still happen out there and I think there’s six drivers who will be telling themselves they can still win this thing. I’m happy to say I’m part of that group.” – Giniel de Villiers
Over in the truck race there was again no sign of Russian resurgence from Team Kamaz while Argentinian brothers Marcos and Alejandro Patronelli dominated the quad race.
Dakar Digit: 86
As the 2012 Dakar Rally revs up in its final week, the gap between Marc Coma and Cyril Despres stands at just 86 seconds. It remains anyone’s guess which of these legends of the deserts will be celebrating their fourth Dakar crown in Lima.
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