Photo: Dakar.com
Despite the fact that the Dakar 2014 organizers decided to shorten the timed portion of Stage 5 down to 211 km (131 miles), it looks like the going is getting really tough for the riders.
Disaster strikes for Honda, after Sam Sunderland's engine blows and the American is forced to retire: Paulo Goncalves' motorcycle catches on fire in the middle of the desert, causing yet one more withdrawal for HRC.
Navigation gave 5-times winner Cyril Despres a hard time, too: after making a series of errors and being left without fuel, he lost some extra 40 minutes and now sits in 12th position overall, 2h23m behind leader Marc Coma.
Coma was also the stage winner, followed by KTM team mate Viladoms and Honda's Rodrigues in third. Top five was complete with Van Niekerek and Salvatierra for KTM and Speedbrain, respectively.
The general ranking is led by Coma, with Barreda Bort 41 minutes behind, Chaleco Lopez in third, followed by Viladomns and Duclos.
Stage 6 brings only 65km (40 miles) of liaison and a whopping 400 km (248 miles) of special stage. The Tucuman – Salta stage is particularly difficult because "the region is frequented to a great extent by animals of all sizes," as dakar.com reports.
Let's hope there will be no more accidents like the one in which Kurt Caselli lost his life.
US - Stage 5 - Car/Bike - Stage Summary... de Dakar
Navigation gave 5-times winner Cyril Despres a hard time, too: after making a series of errors and being left without fuel, he lost some extra 40 minutes and now sits in 12th position overall, 2h23m behind leader Marc Coma.
Coma was also the stage winner, followed by KTM team mate Viladoms and Honda's Rodrigues in third. Top five was complete with Van Niekerek and Salvatierra for KTM and Speedbrain, respectively.
The general ranking is led by Coma, with Barreda Bort 41 minutes behind, Chaleco Lopez in third, followed by Viladomns and Duclos.
Stage 6 brings only 65km (40 miles) of liaison and a whopping 400 km (248 miles) of special stage. The Tucuman – Salta stage is particularly difficult because "the region is frequented to a great extent by animals of all sizes," as dakar.com reports.
Let's hope there will be no more accidents like the one in which Kurt Caselli lost his life.
US - Stage 5 - Car/Bike - Stage Summary... de Dakar
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