For its arrival in Peru, the Dakar 2012 saw Cyril Despres win his 4th stage of this year's rally and gain extra time over Marc Coma, with a lead of 2:22 in the general standings. More significantly, this 11th stage has genuinely proven that the confrontation between the two men is starting to resemble a chess match.
Whilst the Dakar history books will note that Cyril Despres was the first rider to win in Peru, the 27th country to welcome the caravan of the world's biggest rally-raid, the records of today's stage will note that the Frenchman gained a bit of breathing space in the general standings between Arica and Arequipa. Indeed, by settling on catching up with Marc Coma, who set off just before him this morning, then following him all day, the Frenchman put in a strategically perfect performance to pick up his 30th stage victory on the Dakar and more significantly gain 2:01 over the Catalan.
He will definitely be needing it! This 11th special stage also saw a strategic battle from the Coma clan, who worked to place its leader in an ideal position in before the big special of dunes between Arequipa et Nasca. Catalan Gerard Farres Guell attacked all along the 478km of special to finally achieve the 2nd best time of the day, 1:39 behind Despres. As a result, Farres Guell will start tomorrow in front of his friend Marc Coma, on the 12th stage, allowing Coma the possibility to "easily" regain 4 minutes over the Frenchman. Furthermore, another Gallic rider Johnny Aubert, promoted to water carrier for Coma after the withdrawal of Pedrero yesterday, also put in a superb performance to accomplish the 4th best time of the day and will now start the next stage just behind his leader.
However, for the moment, Cyril Despres has reinforced his position as general standings leader, with a lead that now stands at 2:22 over his best enemy. Behind them, Helder Rodrigues experienced a difficult day after stalling on a river crossing at the 21-km point of the special, which led to him losing 7:44 at the finishing line. The Portuguese rider is still well placed on the 3rd step of the provisional podium with a lead of 16:06 over fourth placed rider Jordi Viladoms.
Quotes
Cyril Despres
"After a modification to the road-book, one of the tracks wasn't very visible. I rode 100 metres to far, but I saw that Marc was turning round, even though he started two minutes before me. The day already started with a bath in a stream, pushing alongside the bike. It was a tough day, all in all! An important development might be if someone moves in between Marc and me. In any case, apart from attacking and riding, there wasn't much to do today. Mind you, if Farres has actually finished 2nd, it's not good for me. Tomorrow will be complicated, but anything can happen on the Dakar."
Marc Coma
"We had a mixture of several types of terrain: earthy, sandy and stony. It was predictable that Cyril would gain time on me today. I'm going to try my utmost right until the end. There are three days left to give it everything. It's difficult to define a strategy when Cyril is riding flat out in front! I'll just have to follow him. It won't be flat out, but the pace will again be quick, like it has been since the beginning of the race."
Gerard Farres Guell
"Being able to finish 2nd is important for me and for the team. When I arrived at the neutralised stage, I was told that I was in the lead. I increased my speed from there on to continue like before and try and win a stage on the Dakar. In the end, it wasn't possible, but I'm happy because yesterday I was suffering physically but today I'm feeling much better. We are having a good Dakar. All the team is doing well. We are consistent and have managed some well placed finishes."
