2015 Dakar Rally Stage 8 Results | Coma Takes Over

2015 Dakar Rally Stage 8 Results | Coma Takes Over
KTM's Marc Coma

2015 Dakar Rally Stage 8 Motorcycle Results

As Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma chases his fifth Dakar Rally title at the 37th edition of the “world’s toughest race,” two things were in his favor Monday during stage 8.

First, the leader through stage seven, Team HRC Honda’s Joan Barreda Bort, had some issues with his CRF 450 Rally. Barreda, who impressed after riding the final 75 miles of stage seven with a broken handlebar, was towed most of Monday by fellow Honda rider Jeremias Israel Esquerre. Barreda would finish 65th, pushing him back to 10th overall – 1 hour 24:14 minutes behind Coma.

The second thing in Coma’s favor was weather; stage eight that took riders from Uyuni, Bolivia, back to Iquique, Chile, was originally planned to have the longest special of the 2015 Dakar Rally at 485 miles. But due to poor weather conditions that created extremely low visibility – especially on the salt lake portion – the stage was cut to 235 miles.

This assisted Coma; he finished ninth in stage eight, but getting loss was extremely possible if officials didn’t shorten the stage.

With eight of 13 stages complete, Coma has secured his first lead of the 2015 general standings. The KTM 450 Rally pilot now has a 9:11 minute lead over Team HRC Honda’s Paulo Gonclaves, who finished the state in 15th.

“It was a very extreme day. It was too difficult on the salt lake, there was the altitude, the cold, everything mixed in. It’s just like that. It’s just another day. The important thing is the last day and where we are. It was not an easy day for us, so we will see,” Coma says.

Taking the overall win Monday was KTM-supported Pablo Quintanilla of Chile. This was his first special-stage win, and he climbed to third in the overall standings, 11:11 minutes behind Coma.

“It was very, very complicated. Yesterday we had to tackle as stage where there was a lot of water and plenty of mud. This morning, because it had rained all night, the tracks were full of water and the salt pan was full of water too. There was a bit of confusion at the beginning about the issue of rider safety, but the starter’s orders were eventually given,” Quintanilla says.

“The bike suffered on the stage and the electrical circuit did too. It was very tough: the altitude, the entire day on the bike, but I’m happy to be back in Chile. We’ll have a look with the mechanics to make sure we can start tomorrow in good condition. I’m happy with my race. I’m trying to maintain the pace and follow the leaders, but Coma and Barreda are really very quick.”

Quintanilla received much pressure from the riders who joined him on the stage-eight podium – Yamaha’s Juan Pedrero Garcia finished 11 seconds behind, and KTM’s Stefan Svitko 12 seconds behind.

Taking fifth was the quickest woman so far in 2015 Dakar Rally – Honda’s Laia Sanz Pla-Giribert, who chases a first stage victory for a female rider at Dakar.

Speaking after the stage, Pla-Giribert said “Today was a really hard day. At the beginning some riders didn’t want to start because it was dangerous and cold, but in the end for me it was a good stage. I was third until the dunes but then Toby and Quintanilla passed me very fast. Anyway, I’m very happy with this fifth position.”

Tuesday’s stage 9 takes riders 335 miles from Iquique to Calama, Chile, and features a 280-mile special.

2015 Dakar Rally Stage 8 Motorcycle Results:

Pos. Name Mark Time variation Penalty

1

31 KTM 02:56:19

2

10 YAMAHA 02:56:30 00:00:11

3

18 KTM 02:56:31 00:00:12

4

26 KTM 02:57:00 00:00:41

5

29 HONDA 02:58:55 00:02:36

6

44 YAMAHA 03:02:55 00:06:36

7

14 SHERCO TVS 03:03:01 00:06:42

8

37 KTM 03:03:53 00:07:34

9

1 KTM 03:03:56 00:07:37

10

11 KTM 03:04:03 00:07:44

11

9 KTM 03:04:20 00:08:01

12

3 YAMAHA 03:04:34 00:08:15

13

22 HONDA 03:04:44 00:08:25

14

15 YAMAHA 03:06:41 00:10:22

15

7 HONDA 03:08:36 00:12:17

16

160 KTM 03:08:52 00:12:33

17

25 SHERCO TVS 03:08:57 00:12:38

18

79 YAMAHA 03:11:24 00:15:05

19

8 KTM 03:12:32 00:16:13

20

32 KTM 03:13:44 00:17:25

21

38 KTM 03:14:08 00:17:49

22

35 KTM 03:16:45 00:20:26

23

40 SUZUKI 03:20:12 00:23:53

24

53 KTM 03:22:11 00:25:52

25

45 YAMAHA 03:25:22 00:29:03

26

34 KTM 03:25:34 00:29:15

27

151 KTM 03:26:57 00:30:38

28

69 YAMAHA 03:33:25 00:37:06

29

21 KTM 03:35:03 00:38:44

30

49 KTM 03:43:38 00:47:19

31

65 KTM 03:47:55 00:51:36

32

59 KTM 03:48:12 00:51:53

33

73 HUQSVARNA 03:50:50 00:54:31

34

51 HONDA 03:51:32 00:55:13

35

46 YAMAHA 03:52:50 00:56:31

36

144 KTM 03:55:32 00:59:13

37

109 KTM 03:57:31 01:01:12

38

152 YAMAHA 04:00:46 01:04:27

39

78 KTM 04:00:46 01:04:27

40

68 KTM 04:03:33 01:07:14

41

96 KTM 04:04:59 01:08:40

42

97 KTM 04:05:00 01:08:41

43

63 KTM 04:08:09 01:11:50

44

102 YAMAHA 04:11:23 01:15:04

45

61 BETA 04:12:19 01:16:00

46

80 YAMAHA 04:18:17 01:21:58

47

126 KTM 04:19:32 01:23:13

48

127 KTM 04:24:00 01:27:41

49

128 KTM 04:24:17 01:27:58

50

107 KTM 04:27:31 01:31:12

51

24 HONDA 04:30:55 01:34:36

52

99 KTM 04:32:24 01:36:05

53

103 KTM 04:33:48 01:37:29

54

27 KTM 04:37:11 01:40:52

55

161 KAWASAKI 04:37:16 01:40:57

56

167 KTM 04:41:17 01:44:58

57

92 KAWASAKI 04:41:19 01:45:00

58

156 KTM 04:41:46 01:45:27

59

150 GASGAS 04:58:23 02:02:04

60

113 KTM 04:59:13 02:02:54

2015 Dakar Rally General Rankings (after 8 of 13 stages):

Pos. Name Mark Time variation Penalty

1

1 KTM 28:51:12

2

7 HONDA 29:00:23 00:09:11

3

31 KTM 29:02:23 00:11:11

4

26 KTM 29:07:08 00:15:56

5

18 KTM 29:17:42 00:26:30

6

11 KTM 29:25:46 00:34:34

7

14 SHERCO TVS 29:49:20 00:58:08 00:15:00

8

9 KTM 30:02:00 01:10:48

9

29 HONDA 30:10:03 01:18:51

10

21 KTM 30:38:59 01:47:47

11

10 YAMAHA 30:57:31 02:06:19 00:11:02

12

37 KTM 30:57:58 02:06:46

13

3 YAMAHA 31:06:50 02:15:38

14

44 YAMAHA 31:23:09 02:31:57

15

25 SHERCO TVS 31:36:42 02:45:30 00:15:00

16

8 KTM 31:43:13 02:52:01

17

15 YAMAHA 31:52:47 03:01:35 00:05:00

18

32 KTM 32:19:16 03:28:04

19

79 YAMAHA 32:23:20 03:32:08

20

160 KTM 32:46:15 03:55:03

21

38 KTM 32:48:58 03:57:46

22

34 KTM 33:02:00 04:10:48

23

49 KTM 33:13:25 04:22:13

24

45 YAMAHA 33:26:57 04:35:45

25

35 KTM 33:34:05 04:42:53

26

24 HONDA 33:38:53 04:47:41

27

22 HONDA 34:00:07 05:08:55 00:05:00

28

27 KTM 34:18:07 05:26:55 00:40:00

29

151 KTM 34:18:22 05:27:10

30

161 KAWASAKI 34:24:51 05:33:39 00:15:00

31

69 YAMAHA 35:13:43 06:22:31

32

103 KTM 36:39:06 07:47:54

33

65 KTM 36:43:20 07:52:08

34

46 YAMAHA 37:15:30 08:24:18

35

53 KTM 37:26:31 08:35:19

36

63 KTM 37:31:41 08:40:29

37

40 SUZUKI 38:15:00 09:23:48 02:15:00

38

59 KTM 38:16:55 09:25:43

39

78 KTM 38:57:03 10:05:51

40

51 HONDA 39:35:22 10:44:10 00:05:00

41

73 HUQSVARNA 40:06:35 11:15:23 00:16:00

42

68 KTM 40:24:30 11:33:18 00:02:00

43

109 KTM 40:29:45 11:38:33

44

80 YAMAHA 40:55:14 12:04:02 00:06:00

45

61 BETA 41:10:38 12:19:26

46

113 KTM 42:20:19 13:29:07 03:00:00

47

152 YAMAHA 42:56:53 14:05:41

48

126 KTM 44:05:59 15:14:47 00:01:30

49

156 KTM 44:36:31 15:45:19 00:07:00

50

167 KTM 46:10:47 17:19:35

51

96 KTM 46:20:18 17:29:06

52

97 KTM 46:26:32 17:35:20 00:05:00

53

102 YAMAHA 47:22:05 18:30:53

54

150 GASGAS 47:36:41 18:45:29

55

128 KTM 47:42:43 18:51:31

56

127 KTM 47:49:01 18:57:49 00:06:00

57

107 KTM 48:06:07 19:14:55 00:41:00

58

144 KTM 49:59:32 21:08:20 03:05:00

59

99 KTM 50:41:28 21:50:16 01:10:00

60

92 KAWASAKI 59:32:46 30:41:34 02:15:00

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