Chasing to catch up for the big dream

Fabrizio Meoni has proven his worth! Keeping in mind to attack the overall
standings, the desert fox had started on the first part of the marathon
stage on Thursday morning. He rode his bike smartly and was easy on his
equipment. As we all know the second part of the marathon stage was
cancelled yesterday. Thus, Fabrizio postponed his attack until today. The
result: stage victory! He even managed a time margin that helped the Italian
matador clinch the overall lead. Fabrizio was thus able to gain a bit over
10 minutes on yesterday’s leaders Marc Coma and Cyril Despres. Quite
satisfied the Italian strolled to take a shower shortly after arriving (the
first in days)…

Isidre Esteve Pujol was quickest over the stage. He, just like Meoni, is
driven by a dream – a Dakar victory. “I am glad to have won the stage. But I
’m even more excited that I was able to gain a few minutes. I am now one of
the top riders and I was hoping to accomplish that before the rest day. I
didn’t plan on being in the lead, but I didn’t want to be too far away from
it either.” The Spaniard claims a 6th place in the overall with a time
margin of just about 9 minutes. On Monday Isidre will continue his chase for
the leadership. The Spaniard believes that the second Dakar week is going to
be even tougher than the first one. “The fight for the victory is entering a
decisive phase. I have five KTM professionals ahead of me. I’m expecting
anyone of them to win. It is going to become a tough race, “he claims. When
talking about competition between the teams one should not forget about the
Frenchman David Fretign?©. The Yamaha motorcyclist ranks about 15 minutes
behind Meoni. He could be the only reason that a 5th KTM victory becomes
impossible.

Marc Coma lost his leading position in the overall standings today. The
young Spaniard seemed to have been expecting something was off when left the
bivouac in Tidjikja this morning. “I’m feeling really tired today – physical
as well as mental. I didn’t get much rest during the previous days. And
today one needs to be extremely concentrated.” During the stage Marc’s
tripmaster failed and he thought it best to keep to a group. His summary
after the stage: “It was difficult today and one had to pay much attention
to find the accurate way. The dunes at the end cost a lot of energy; the
sand was extremely soft.”

In the same group as Marc Coma were Cyril Despres, Alfie Cox, Andy Caldecott
and David Fretign?©. At least until CP 1. After another 30 km the Yamaha
rider left the group. As they were to find out later, he had found the
appropriate route. The four KTM teammates had made a mistake in their
navigation and had to run back part of the way. They lost about four
minutes. Cyril Despres was definitely mad about the faux pas. After reaching
the bivouac, he did not want to answer any more questions about the how and
why. His attack on the leadership has gone amiss today.

Andy Caldecott has done surprisingly well in the race. The Australian
clinched a 4th place today and is in 3rd in the overall. Thus, he is ahead
of several established KTM factory pilots. “It is a comfortable feeling to
have arrived in Atar and to be healthy. Last year after this stage I had to
pay the doctors a visit because my hand was broken. I’m more than satisfied
with this year’s race. Everything runs well. Although I got to admit that it
was incredible strenuous today. We had to navigate a lot and the sand in the
last stretch was unbelievably soft.”

At the moment the sky turns dark in Atar. It seems that the sandstorm is
following the rally.
Tomorrow’s rest day is long expected from many. However “rest day” is not
exactly correct. By no means will this be a full day of rest for the teams –
but hopefully a peaceful day. There is much to do. We’ll tell you more about
it tomorrow from the bivouac.

Stage Results
1. Isidre Esteve Pujol (Team KTM Repsol-Red Bull)
2. Fabrizio Meoni (Team KTM Gauloises)                  +1´29
4. Andy Caldecott (Team KTM Motorex Australia)          + 8´10
5. Alfie Cox (Team KTM Gauloises)                               + 9´45
6. Giovanni Sala (Team KTM Repsol-Red Bull)                     + 11´32
7. Cyril Despres (Team KTM Gauloises)                   + 11´40
9. Chris Blais (Team KTM Red Bull USA)                  + 13´12
12. Marc Coma (Team KTM Repsol-Red Bull)                        + 13´52
13. Jean Brucy (Team KTM Gauloises)                             + 14´03
14. Kellon Walch (Team KTM Red Bull USA)                        + 15´02
26. Scot Harden (Team KTM Red Bull USA)                         + 56´44
44. David Schwarz (Team KTM Motorex Australia)          + 1´28´52

Overall Results
1. Fabrizio Meoni (Team KTM Gauloises)
2. Cyril Despres (Team KTM Gauloises)                   +2´55
3. Andy Caldecott (Team KTM Motorex Australia)          +4´49
4. Marc Coma (Team KTM Repsol-Red Bull)         +4´51
5. Alfie Cox (Team KTM Gauloises)                               +6´24
6. Isidre Esteve Pujol (Team KTM Repsol-Red Bull)       +9´09
9. Giovanni Sala (Team KTM Repsol-Red Bull)             +47´48
10. Chris Blais (Team KTM Red Bull USA)                 +1h 01´58
13. Jean Brucy (Team KTM Gauloises)                     +1h 51´45
14. Kellon Walch (Team KTM Red Bull USA)                +1h 58´15
19. Scott Harden (Team KTM Red Bull USA)                +3h 25´24
34. David Schwarz (Team KTM Motorex Australia)  +6h 55´05