Dakar 2015 – Stage Two – Barreda wins stage two – Price up to 5th
A steady fourth place on a quick first stage where there was more to lose than to win, Joan Barreda got the show on the road today during the first major special stage of the Dakar with an imposing victory on the second stage of the rally between Villa Carlos Paz and San Juan.
Stage one victor Sam Sunderland was disillusioned after getting lost for a long time 70 km from the finish.
Joan Barreda – 1st 5:46’06 – “In the end we set off with a game-plan to not make any mistakes and arrive safely at the finish-line. The result has been amazing. In the first part, Sunderland and Coma pushed really hard and I overtook Paulo to try and stop them running away with the stage. In the end, it was more about survival than anything else. We had to measure the pace and keep focused on the navigation as there were some extremely tricky spots, plus another stretch towards the end, that really put a strain on the body.”
Battling with Marc Coma and Sam Sunderland all along the 518-km special, Barreda finally benefited from his rivals’ problems at the end of the stage. Coma suffered problems with his tyres and had to ease off the pace over the last 60 kilometres to make sure he reached the finish whilst yesterday’s winner got lost for up to two hours whilst trying to find the right track and can more or less kiss goodbye to his ambitions in the general standings.
Marc Coma – “We know that today was a very tough day. We started in the morning with a good feeling, not pushing too hard because we knew it was a long day. But on the other side, I felt that 60 km from the end my rear tyre was finished and I started to ride no faster than 60 kmph, no faster than that. Ok, we lost some time today, but at the end I’m lucky because normally I could have stayed stuck in the desert all the day”.
Paulo Gonçalves came up trumps again with another second place that allows him to consolidate his second place in the general standings, though today he did lose six minutes to Barreda.
Paulo Gonçalves – “Today was a really, really long and hard stage. It was more than 500 km but with really difficult tracks, a lot of rocks and a last 45 km that was amazing. There was some super grass and a section with sand. With this temperature it was really, really hard, but I’m happy to be here. In the middle of the stage I lost a little bit of time trying to find a way point. I lost the others and for the last 200 km I was on my own, but I’m happy for me, for HRC and especially for Joan, because he rode a really, really, really, really smart race today. He just started pushing after 350 km, so congratulations to Joan. I thought we were very brave today because it was a really difficult day. This was a really typical Dakar stage; it wasn’t a normal Dakar stage, but one with a high amount of difficulty”.
In third place, nine minutes behind, Ruben Faria achieved the performance of the day on completion of a very physically demanding stage, only two months after an operation on a broken collar bone. He beat fellow factory backed KTM rider Jordi Viladoms by four seconds, whbilkst KTM-supported riders making their first Dakar appearance not only weathered the longest timed special well but also finished 5-6 in the stage. First home in fifth was Australia’s Toby Price, nine minute 42 behind the leader after 518 km of timed special, followed by Austria’s Matthias Walkner at 11.25. The two newcomers are currently fifth and seventh in the overall standings.
Toby Price – “Today was a good day for me! We got through first 300km really well at a fast pace, the navigation wasn’t to hard but you still had to really stay on top of your road book. Beyond the 300km point I made a small mistake trying to pass another rider when I thought I might had missed a waypoint and started to second guess myself. I then back tracked to find the waypoint and found myself back where I turned around, to be honest it was all over the shop! It just goes to show how much experience you need to master this crazy race. Today was incredibly hot in the sand dunes and we all got cooked, other than that it was all good and extremely happy to be sitting in 5th position after stage 2.”
Matthias Walkner – “I was not thinking so good today. The first 150 kilometres, I did really well. But then when I caught the man in front of me, there was so much dust and I was riding, like, 200 to 300 metres behind him. Then I came past him and got lost again. At the end there were around 40 km of just dunes. I think it helps a lot when you come from moto-cross. I can make a lot of time up. The day was fairly easy in terms of navigation and you couldn’t really make mistakes. I was thinking that I was in around 15th to 10th position and that 8th would be pretty good. At the end I thought somebody got in front of me again, but for the moment it’s really good. Of course I’m surprised to be near the front, but I know I can ride the motorbike fast, but for the navigation it’s different and for the moment it’s not so heavy. But I think when it gets more heavy for the navigation then I will lose more time to the leaders”.
Yamaha’s Olivier Pain was in no doubt how much pain the trying conditions brought to the riders on day two – Oliver Pain – 19th / 26’19 / 17th overall – “The organisers promised us a hard day today and they kept their promise! I struggled to find my rhythm early on in the mountains and then managed to pick up the pace a little around the half way point. Towards the end we had 40 kilometres of ‘Le Touquet’, except instead of it being freezing cold it was like riding in an oven! Both mentally and physically it was very tough. It was so hot that I opened by jacket to let some air in, something I hardly ever do. I can’t say I’m really delighted with my result but I’m not surprised either. Although the terrain was varied, there was very little navigation, it was more like a Baja. Good for some of the newcomers but not so good for someone like myself who can make the difference with the road book.”
Dakar 2015 – Overall Standings after Stage Two
- BARREDA BORT (ESP) – HONDA – 07:06:44 – –
- GONCALVES (PRT) – HONDA – 07:11:21 00:04:37 –
- FARIA (PRT) – KTM – 07:17:21 00:10:37 –
- VILADOMS (ESP) – KTM – 07:18:08 00:11:24 –
- PRICE (AUS) – KTM – 07:18:16 00:11:32 –
- COMA (ESP) – KTM – 07:18:47 00:12:03 –
- WALKNER (AUT) – KTM – 07:19:10 00:12:26 –
- RODRIGUES (PRT) – HONDA – 07:20:10 00:13:26
- ISRAEL ESQUERRE (CHL) – HONDA – 07:23:08 00:16:24 –
- PEDRERO GARCIA (ESP) – YAMAHA – 07:26:18 00:19:34 –
- SVITKO (SVK) – KTM – 07:28:58 00:22:14 –
- DUCLOS (FRA) – SHERCO TVS – 07:29:06 00:22:22 –
- QUINTANILLA (CHL) – KTM – 07:30:51 00:24:07 –
- CASTEU (FRA) – KTM – 07:30:59 00:24:15 –
- VAN NIEKERK (ZAF) – KTM – 07:32:41 00:25:57 –
- SANZ PLA-GIRIBERT (ESP) – HONDA – 07:33:23 00:26:39 –
- PAIN (FRA) – YAMAHA – 07:34:56 00:28:12 –
- METGE (FRA) – YAMAHA – 07:36:08 00:29:24 –
- BOTTURI (ITA) – YAMAHA – 07:37:49 00:31:05 –
- JAKES (SVK) – KTM – 07:42:04 00:35:20 –
Dakar 2015 Stage Two Video
Stage 2 – Car/Bike – Stage Summary – (Villa… by Dakar
Tomorrow’s Stage – Stage Three – Tuesday, 6th January – San Juan (ARG) – Chilecito (ARG) – Liaison: 437 km – Special stage: 220 km
The pressure which competitors faced the day before (and late into the night for some of them), will partly ease off on the road to Chilecito. The shorter and less intense stage will allow them to enjoy their majestic surroundings. The red earth tracks, overlooking steep peaks and plunging down into canyons, will take the Dakar through one of the most beautiful regions of Argentina. But no-one should be tempted to sit back and enjoy the view, particularly on the motorcycle and quad bike routes which include some gruelling sections. With thousands of stones to be avoided, it will only take one to ruin this magnificent day!
