Joan Barreda of Monster Energy
Honda Team picked up his 4th stage victory but will not be able to prevent Sam
Sunderland of KTM from winning his first title on the Dakar by the end of
Saturday January 14, 2017. The title will also be out of reach for Sébastien
Loeb of Peugeot who also won his fourth special, but who was unable to shake
the supremacy that Stéphane Peterhansel, his teammate, exercises over the
rally.
The start of the special was marked
by the last dunes in the region of San Juan whilst the end of the stage near
Córdoba gave pride of place to quick tracks perfectly suited to former rally
drivers. Stage 11 was a last session of all out attack and a last opportunity
to grab a place on the final podium
With a one-hour time penalty
in the first week, the official Honda riders most likely bitterly regret their
infringement of the rules and have been at the forefront during the race’s
second week. Ricky Brabec, Michael Metge, and Paulo Gonçalves well and truly
hogged the limelight, but it was again Joan Barreda who triumphed in Rio Cuarto
to obtain his third consecutive special stage victory.
In the quad category, Sergey
Karyakin (Yamaha) again gave a demonstration and reinforced his lead in the
general standings. If he avoids any accidents on the final day, the Russian
will win his first title on the Dakar. In the car race, Sébastien Loeb did his
utmost to recover the time lost the previous day to Stéphane Peterhansel. However, despite an
end to the stage that was said to be more favourable to the former WRC driver,
the man from Alsace got a puncture at the worst possible time and could only
regain 18 seconds over his team-mate and lies 5’35 behind in the general
standings before the last stage.
As for the trucks, the general
standings leader Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz)hammered home his advantage with a
second consecutive stage victory and should win his second Dakar on Saturday
Joaquim Rodrigues once again claims 10th place, C.S Santosh moves into
48th position
With the last major stage done
and dusted, the 2017 Dakar is set to wind down in 24-hours. But, before the
champagne is popped, one last special stage of 64 km needs to be finished
before the participants head to Buenos Aires for a grand reception for the
finish podium ceremony and the winners are crowned.
For Hero Motosports Team
Rally, there is much to celebrate with the last big special stage behind it.
For a team that’s making its Dakar debut, both riders, Joaquim Rodrigues and
C.S. Santosh, completing the 11th stage is crossing a major threshold. The
newest team and manufacturer in the paddock has proved that it has the resolve,
grit and the talent to succeed at the world’s toughest race. Rodrigues, who
finished the previous special in 19th place, tackled the dunes and the fast
racing lines in the second part of the special stage, which was the penultimate
timed section of the 2017 Dakar, with great poise and skill. For the team, and
for many in the paddock, he has been nothing short of a revelation for speed
and navigation skills. Rodrigues completed the 11th timed section of 288 km in
3 hours 37 minutes 56 seconds that puts him 14th place in the day’s
classification, once again helped in reclaiming the coveted 10th place in the
provisional overall general classification.
Santosh, who started the 11th
special stage 37 place, rode a consistent race after he got into the flow of
things. He kept the momentum going in the dunes and the fast sections. The
Indian rider finished the timed section in 50th place with a time of 4 hour 28
minutes 34 seconds, which puts Santosh in 48th place in the provisional overall
general rankings.
Barreda and Goncalves Finish 1-2 for Third Consecutive Stage Win
The 11th stage took place on 13th
January between San Juan and Rio Cuarto with a total distance of 759km. At the
Special Stage Joan Barreda and Paulo Goncalves showed performance scoring a
one-two finish and the 3rd consecutive stage win for the Monster Energy Honda
Team. Barreda has marked his 4th stage win for the 2017 Dakar.
The riders had an early start
from the bivouac in San Juan, and headed to the start line of the special stage
of 288km set in the province of Cordoba. This day’s stage was in two parts with
the first part in the dunes 115km long, followed by the second part on harder
surfaces at a higher pace set at 173km, with a long 367km connection between
the two.
Starting at 6:45AM, Barreda
opened the track. With specially hard navigation skills required for this
year’s Dakar, opening the track can be difficult and a disadvantage, however,
Barreda finished the stage in a respectable 1hour 30minutes 39seconds.
Goncalves started in 8th position, and successfully passing the ongoing riders,
finished the first part at the top time of 1hour 27minutes 19seconds. Michael
Metge also finished this first part without any trouble only a few minutes
behind the leading Goncalves.
After riding the long
connecting route, the Monster Energy Honda Team continued to ride well in the
second part. The stage-winning Barreda finished in 3hours 16minutes 57seconds
followed by Goncalves, 1minute 50seconds behind in second, with Metge in 7th,
10minutes 55seconds behind.
Also a Honda rider who must be
mentioned is Franco Caimi, entering from the Honda South America Rally Team
also riding the CRF450 RALLY. Only his first attempted to the Dakar, the local
Argentinian rider finished 8th in this stage and has finished in the top ten
four times, including a 3rd and 5th position, putting him in 8th in the
over-all standings.
It is a shame that Ricky
Brabec suffered a fall in the 10th stage causing mechanical trouble. He was not
able to start the 11th stage and has retired from the race.
Van Beveren And Yamaha Finish Third In Dakar Rally's Penultimate Stage
Putting in a great fight in
the mountains of Argentina, Adrien Van Beveren claimed a strong third place
result during the 2017 Dakar Rally's penultimate stage. Currently fourth in the
rally's provisional overall standings, the Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team
rider is determined to give his all to bring Yamaha on the rally's final
podium.
Divided in two parts, today's
288-km-long special featured a mix of sandy dunes and open mountain roads.
Opting to make the most of his vast sand riding experience, Van Beveren went on
the attack from the start of the special. Going past the first checkpoint as
the day's provisional leader, the WR450F Rally mounted rider made one small
navigational mistake that saw him eventually wrap up today's stage with the
third fastest outright time.
Following almost two weeks and
more than 8,000km of racing Van Beveren is highly motivated to take his battle
for third to the finish. Currently placed 48 seconds behind the rider
provisionally in third, the Frenchman knows that anything is possible during
tomorrow's final stage to Buenos Aires.
In what's been a positive
stage for the Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team, Adrien's teammate Hélder
Rodrigues posted the 13th fastest time during the day's timed special to earn
himself a spot inside the top 10 in the rally's provisional overall standings.
With Hélder ninth in the overall with one stage remaining, both Yamalube Yamaha
Official Rally Team riders look set to finish inside the 2017 Dakar Rally's top
10.
Stage 11 proved to be quite
challenging for Yamaha France's Xavier de Soultrait. Enjoying a nearly
faultless race so far, one that's twice seen the Frenchman claim top three
stage results, Xavier suffered a mechanical issue right after the start of timed
special, which made it almost impossible for him to continue. Reaching the
start of the second part of the day’s special Xavier has been so far unable to
go beyond WP4. It's a harsh blow for the Frenchman who spent half of the race
holding on to sixth in the provisional overall standings before dropping to
eighth after yesterday's stage 10.
Dominating today's timed
special Russia's Sergey Karyakin was 20 minutes faster than any of his
competitors in the Quad class. Holding on to an impressive lead of more than
one hour in the provisional overall standings the Raptor 700R mounted rider
looks set to claim the first Dakar Rally victory of his career in Buenos Aires.
Top five in reach for Terranova as 2017 Dakar enters the final stage
The penultimate stage of the
2017 Dakar took the competitors to the sand dunes of San Juan to do battle on a
WRC-type track in the Cordoba region. It was a terrain that seemed to suit the
style of driver Orlando Terranova (ARG) as he continued to quietly progress
through the ranks of the overall standings with another impressive stage
performance. The Argentinian driver and
co-driver Andreas Schulz (GER) crossed the finish line in 3rd in the #308 MINI
John Cooper Works Rally car to maintain 6th overall, within reach of a top five
finish ahead of the final stage of this year’s event.
Just two places behind them
reaching Rio Cuarto was Yazeed Al Rajhi (KSA) and co-driver Timo Gottschalk
(DEU) in the #306 MINI John Cooper Works Rally car. The pairing finished the
stage in 5th to move up to 26th in the general standings.
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) and
Michel Perin (FRA) fared better in the #303 MINI John Cooper Works Rally car
for Stage 11. The pairing completed the 759km just outside the top ten, in
11th, as the first car in a cavalcade of three MINIs. They now sit in 13th overall.
Just one place behind in 12th
was the #322 MINI ALL4 RACING of Mohamed Abu Issa (QAT) and co-driver Xavier
Panseri (FRA). The pair’s solid performance saw them move into the top ten
overall with just one round remaining – remarkable when you consider that this
is Abu Issa’s first Dakar in a car and the first time the driver and co-driver
have competed together.
The third consecutive MINI to
cross the line in 13th was the #316 MINI ALL4 Racing of Jakub Przygonski (POL)
and Tom Colsoul (BEL). They maintained 7th in the general standings.
Sylvio de Barros (BR) and Rafael Capoani (BR)
also completed the stage in 16th to move to 18th overall. Stephan Schott (GER)
and Paulo Fiuza (POR) will also start the final part of the Dakar after
conquering Stage 11 in 21st to move to 15th in the standings.
Unfortunately, Boris Garafulic
(CHL) and Filipe Palmeiro (POR) decide to retire from the race on the
penultimate stage.