Photo: dakar.com
Joan Barreda Bort claimed victory in the fourth stage of the 2015 Dakar, after he trailed Marc Coma for some time. The HRC rider overtook the KTM machine in the final kilometers of Stage 4, which linked Chilecito and Copiapo and which had the riders passing the Andes at more than 4,200 meters (13,780 ft) altitude.
Barreda took almost 2 minutes from Coma and now the distance between the two is under 13 minutes, but the KTM Spaniard hasn’t played out his best cards, most likely because there are enough stages ahead. Chilean KTM rider Pablo Quintanilla was truly inspired by treading on the soil of his native country as the Dakar reached Chile, and found the inspiration and determination to finish Stage 4 in a very good third position, less than 3 minutes adrift Barreda.
The rest of the pack could not do better than almost 11 minutes behind the leader, with Viladoms and Faria completing the top five. A great performance from Laia Sanz, who reached the Stage 4 finish line in the 8th position, almost one minute ahead of the best Yamaha machine, ridden by Michael Metge.
In the general ranking, Barreda Bort has a 12’49” lead over Marc Coma, with Paulo Goncalves in the third position, followed by Ruben Faria and Jordi Viladoms. Rookies Price and Walkner who have been front runners until now have finished Stage 4 with massive differences and have slipped to the 7th and 8th places, respectively, while Laia Sanz climbed to 12th.
Stage 5 links Copiapo and Antofagasta, with a 458 km (285 miles) special stage.
Stage 4 - Car/Bike - Stage Summary - (Chilecito... by Dakar
The rest of the pack could not do better than almost 11 minutes behind the leader, with Viladoms and Faria completing the top five. A great performance from Laia Sanz, who reached the Stage 4 finish line in the 8th position, almost one minute ahead of the best Yamaha machine, ridden by Michael Metge.
Sam Sunderland forced to abandon, again
KTM’s new rising star Sam Sunderland had to call it quits early in Stage 4 after he suffered a broken collarbone and was forced to retire. It is the third time when Sunderland retires from the rally. Israel Esquerre also hit the ground hard and was unable to move for some time. He finally got back on his bike and reached the finish line in the 40th position. You can also see him fallen in the dust in the video below, with another rider swerving to avoid running him over, and then returning to help him, as a most eloquent proof of what real fair play means.In the general ranking, Barreda Bort has a 12’49” lead over Marc Coma, with Paulo Goncalves in the third position, followed by Ruben Faria and Jordi Viladoms. Rookies Price and Walkner who have been front runners until now have finished Stage 4 with massive differences and have slipped to the 7th and 8th places, respectively, while Laia Sanz climbed to 12th.
Stage 5 links Copiapo and Antofagasta, with a 458 km (285 miles) special stage.
Stage 4 - Car/Bike - Stage Summary - (Chilecito... by Dakar
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