2015 Dakar Rally Stage 11 Results | Coma Extends Lead

2015 Dakar Rally Stage 11 Results

Following Saturday’s only rest day in 2015 Dakar Rally, much has changed. The most notable was the leadership transitioning from Team HRC Honda’s Joan Barreda Bort to the man who chases his fifth Dakar Rally victory – Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma.

Barreda had a substantial lead through stage seven, but disaster struck during stage eight. The Honda CRF 450 Rally pilot had some major electrical issues, and his teammate Jeremias Israel helped tow him to the finish line.

Barreda would finish in 65th in stage eight, handing the lead over to Coma. But Barreda showed no signs of slowing down, and initially earned his second-consecutive victory Thursday, winning Stage 10 by 17 seconds ahead of teammate Paulo Gonclaves and 1:35 minutes ahead of KTM’s Ivan Jakes.

Unfortunately, though, both Barreda and Gonclaves were penalized Thursday 15 minutes each. The reason for the penalty? Both riders changed their engines. This handed the stage 11 win to Jakes Dakar Team KTM’s Ivan Jakes, who was joined on the podium by two KTM-supported riders – Ruben Faria and Toby Price.

Due to the horrors of stage eight and the penalty, Barreda, who has won a total of three stages so far in 2015 Dakar Rally, is now 18th overall, 5 hours, 19:32 minutes behind leader Coma. And with only two stages remaining, Barreda’s hopes for a first Dakar Rally title have disappeared.

As for Coma, his hopes are only better. He finished fourth in stage 11, which took riders 318 miles from Cachi to Termas Rio Honda, with 218 of those miles timed. And this stage was completed after Wednesday’s second and final marathon stage of the rally, meaning only the competitors were able to work on their machines.

Speaking after stage 11, Coma says “We come from a marathon stage that is always more stressful and always with mechanical work. Our time is good but we still have a difficult day tomorrow and also the last day. I am still not able to see the end to this rally but I am happy with how things are going so far. If you look at how far we have already come, it is an eternity. So far we can say we are still very happy.”

The most impressive performer in stage 11 was Gonclaves. The Portuguese CRF 450 Rally pilot was able to regain 2:23 minutes on Coma, and slimmed the overall lead down to 5:12.

But after Gonclaves was served the 15-minute penalty, he now trails Coma by 21:12 minutes.

“I had a problem with my engine yesterday and had to change it. Since it was a marathon stage, of course one of our riders had to stay in Cachi. It was C’est Jeremias Israel who gave his engine. It’s very brave to have done that. It’s the end of the race for him so I’m going to try and get the best position so that I can dedicate it to him,” Gonclaves says.

“Because of the penalty, I’ve given a free 15 minutes to all my rivals, but that’s the rules of the race and they’re the same for everybody. It was already difficult 7 minutes behind, even if I managed to regain around two minutes on the stage today. But now it’s even more difficult. That said, others can also have the problem that I had yesterday, so it’s not too late to hope to finish in the top position.”

Overall, Price is third, 31:43 minutes behind Coma, and KTM-supported Pablo Quintanilla fourth, 33:15 behind.

Friday’s penultimate stage takes riders 636 miles from Termas Rio Honda to Rosario, Argentina, with 185 of those miles timed. KTM also reports that teams would be permitted to transport the bikes for part of the long liaison section.

2015 Dakar Rally Stage 11 Results, Motorcycles:

2015 Dakar Rally General Standings after 11 of 13 stages: