Helder Rodrigues wins stage six – Toby Price 2nd on stage six and moves up to fifht outright
Joan Barreda extends outright lead by further two-minutes over Marc Coma
Helder Rodrigues rode out of the shadows during today’s 688-kilometre Antofagasta to Iquique sixth stage of Dakar 2015 with the Portuguese rider winning the stage ahead of Australian debutante Toby Price.
The Portuguese rider has always fallen short when looking for outright victory on the Dakar, despite two podium finishes (in 2011 and 2012) The South American rally-raid did not seem to be smiling on him either in 2015, with so far a 10th place in the general standings which is below his expectations.
Helder Rodrigues – “I started out from behind, but I caught up with the riders who were opening the road. They were very quick, but I also had the speed to catch them. I’m pleased with the way it turned out and was very calm until the end. It’s rest-day tomorrow, which we really need, to get the energy back and plan next the second week as well as possible. I want to keep attacking and claw back a bit of time in the overall standings.”
Rodrigues now climbs to sixth in the general standings, 2-minutes 20-seconds behind Toby Price who thanks to his excellent performance today moved up to fifth outright.
The result was Price’s third top-five finish in the first six days of the gruelling, 14-day 9000+ kilometre South American epic after he was fifth on Day 1 and fourth on Day 2.
Toby Price: “I caught a bit of dust at first but then I made my way around some of the guys and was in the clear. I almost missed a way point at one stage but I turned back and got it. After than I kept motoring along and I didn’t get lost one bit. I was pretty surprised. I think the navigation is slowly coming. I think we’re getting the hang of it now. I take my time with it and at the end of the day its better because I don’t rush things. I’m stoked to be at the half way and to get a good result today.”
Paulo Gonçalves is used to good performances on the Dakar and finally clawed back time on the Barreda/Coma duo, finishing just 1-minute 42-seconds behind the day’s winner. The incisive Honda rider strengthened his third place in the general standings, waiting to ambush the men ahead.
Paulo Goncalves – “Another fairly tough stage, especially up in the mountains. The track was very broken up, very soft, full of danger and difficult to get up. The navigation was very hard too. But in the end I’m happy with my third place today and the third overall, that’s very important for me. Today Hélder won and HRC are having a really great week, ahead overall, and winning a lot of stages. Jere and Laia are helping a lot. Next week will be harder than this one, and we will have to be very careful not to make any mistakes.”
Local rider Pablo Quintanilla is also ready to take advantage of any mistakes and finished fourth in Iquique.
Joan Barreda and Marc Coma again rode the stage together after a minor fall by the KTM rider at the start of the special. Defending champion Marc Coma lost ground to Joan Barreda Bort, who leads the rally by over twelve minutes, as the pair finished eighth and sixth for the day.
Joan Barreda – “I’m pleased to be here in Iquique and happy with the way that we have arrived here. I caught up with Marc quickly and we were together all the way from then on. There were some parts of fast track, some stretches were harder, some were like trial, and when we got to the dunes some of the other riders caught up with us and stayed there until the end. It was what we had expected but you still had to be careful. The second week will see the first days in Bolivia. It’ll be tough, and also the Iquique desert will be a tricky one for the navigation. In the end, the entrance into Argentina is not likely to be easy with some stages at over 4300 metres. There is a lot of race left, but the way to do it is the one we’ve been doing up until now.”
Coma said his day had been a tough one. “I started first in the stage and I had a small crash at the beginning and this caused me to lose a bit of confidence in the first part. Then the rhythm was coming back again but the navigation was very difficult and it was very tough to find the way. Joan (Barreda) was always with me and he’s become my shadow the last three days. Bit it’s like this. Everyone is playing their cards.”
Ruben Faria said on the balance it had been a good result for him. “The day was tricky and there were some bumps but in the end it was a good result. I am very happy to finish the first week.” Faria had injured his collarbone and wrist six weeks before the Dakar said he was looking forward to having some rest and recuperation on the rest day Saturday.
This battle of the elite will not involve Jordi Viladoms, whose hopes definitively went up in smoke as he finished 35 minutes behind the day’s winner. “I think it is one of those days I will try to forget. I jumped a way point and it was too late to come back. I started thinking about this and it cost me a lot of energy. This made it difficult during the stage because what I expected and how it is are very different.”
Riders now have one day to rest and recover as the event, which traverses Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, reaches its mid-event rest day.
Sunday’s Day 7 of the Dakar challenge will then begin with a climb to 3,500 metres for the start of the Bolivian marathon stage, where riders will compete in the rarefied air with instructions to follow their road books with great care.
2015 Dakar Rally Stage Six, Antofagasta to Iquique – 688km
1 5 Rodrigues (Prt) Honda 03:40:10
2 26 Price (Aus) KTM 03:41:20 00:01:10
3 7 Goncalves (Prt) Honda 03:41:52 00:01:42
4 31 Quintanilla (Chl) KTM 03:46:21 00:06:11
5 18 Svitko (Svk) KTM 03:46:52 00:06:42
6 2 Barreda Bort (Esp) Honda 03:47:30 00:07:20
7 12 Israel Esquerre (Chl) Honda 03:49:08 00:08:58
8 1 Coma (Esp) KTM 03:49:24 00:09:14
9 11 Faria (Prt) KTM 03:49:44 00:09:34
10 21 Jakes (Svk) KTM 03:54:09 00:13:59
2015 Dakar Overall Standings After Stage 6:
1 2 Barreda Bort (Esp) Honda 21:38:35
2 1 Coma (Esp) KTM 21:51:02 00:12:27
3 7 Goncalves (Prt) Honda 21:55:47 00:17:12
4 31 Quintanilla (Chl) KTM 22:08:32 00:29:57
5 26 Price (Aus) KTM 22:12:19 00:33:44
6 5 Rodrigues (Prt) Honda 22:14:39 00:36:04
7 11 Faria (Prt) KTM 22:19:02 00:40:27
8 18 Svitko (Svk) KTM 22:20:02 00:41:27
9 14 Duclos (Fra) Sherco Tvs 22:31:31 00:52:56
10 12 Israel Esquerre (Chl) Honda 22:39:23 01:00:48
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TOMORROW’S STAGE – REST DAY – Copiapó (CHI)
For this exceptional part of the race, marked by the bivouac stop in Iquique and the Bolivian podium in Uyuni, separate rest days will be observed: 10th January for the motorcycles and quads and 12th January for cars and trucks. However, on Sunday 11th January, all the categories will be back on the race, competing in a different stage. Everyone will have taken part in a marathon stage by then.
