Dakar: Giofil Aprilia Stage 9 Report

2011 Dakar Rally

The ninth stage of the Dakar Rally 2011 was almost like a rest day. A loop traced behind the dunes of Copiapo, with 235 timed km on Tuesday.

As last year, the start was given in lines, first the best 10 Dakar riders of Monday, followed by waves of 20 riders every five minutes. It was wonderful desert scenery and everyone looked at each other trying to control their rivals.

And after it, the overall Dakar ranking did not change much: the three same riders close to the podium did not dare to attack. Marc Coma (KTM) and Cyril Despres (KTM) also were calmed on Tuesday, and so was Francisco "Chaleco" Lopez (Aprilia), who run with his Aprilia teammates Alain Duclos and Gerard Farres.

At the finish line, López obtains the 10th time behind Marc Coma, while Despres was 7th. This is an excellent position to face Wednesday’s stage, which should be very exhausting even tough is only 176 km long. Nevertheless, riders must cross the white dunes of Fiambalá, where many riders were forced to drop out of the Dakar race last year.

Gerard Farres started on the Aprilia in the second group, joined the first and marked the 4th best time of the timed section. Alex Zanotti, after yesterday´s fall, suffered of pain in his shoulder. He also run out of gas a few kilometers before the finish line. It has been a hard race for the Italian Aprilia rider.

On Wednesday, the rally Aprilia riders go back to Argentina by the Paso San Francisco, located at 4800 above the sea level. Then, there will be a 176 km special, but before reaching the bivouac of Chilecito, riders must complete 776 km.

Francisco López (Aprilia Dakar) says: "It was like going for a nice ride in the dunes. No one took the initiative today, I saw that Coma and Despres were looking at me constantly, and at a certain point, they stopped. So did I. There was more to lose than to win, and the important thing is that I have a great starting position for tomorrow."

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