The USA’s Kurt Caselli (KTM/Michelin) notched up his second stage win of this year’s Dakar in the mud near Fiambala. Today’s action also saw Cyril Despres extend his overall lead over Faria and Chaleco Lopez.
Leg 11: La Rioja-Fiambala (483km)
For most of the day, it poured down along Ruta 60 between La Rioja and Fiambala, filling the drainage ditches with water. After Tuesday’s heat wave, the riders consequently faced a cocktail of rain and mud over today’s 191km stage, but at least the sandy base prevented the surface from cutting up too badly over the dunes, making life easier for the amateurs. But that was only over the dunes…
“It was muddy for 180km,” reported Cyril Despres, visibly exhausted when we talked to him in the comfort of his camper van at tonight’s bivouac in Fiambala. “At Km120, the rain was very heavy and the muddy sections were about 30 or 40 metres wide. I had to drive along a flooded stream to get past in one place. There was fog, too, and I wasn’t sure of my heading at times. Along with Joan Barreda, I went in the wrong direction right at the beginning. It was an extremely tricky stage, and I’m glad it is over…”
The win went to Kurt Caselli: “I caught Cyril at Km60 and stayed with him to the finish. I went ahead of him but we ran together the rest of the way. It was a bit like motocross in places; I loved it.”
Helder Rodriguez (Honda) ran with the American rider initially but was halted at Km198. Fellow Honda rider Gerard Farres Guel got no further than Km47.
Joan Barreda, Paulo Gonçalves, Chaleco Lopez, Joan Pedrero and Ivan Jakes settled in behind Despres at around Km140 but they then dropped back during the final section, except Gonçalves who went on to post the second best time. “The navigation was quite hard but I didn’t make any mistakes, so it was a good day.”
The provisional leader Cyril Despres is now 13m16s clear of his team-mate Ruben Faria. Lopez is third (+18m8s), ahead of Ivan Jakes (+23m33s) who followed a wrong heading at Km33. Alessandro Botturi (Husqvarna/Michelin) rounds of the Top 5 despite taking a 15-minute penalty following an engine change.
Stage 11 positions:
1, Caselli (KTM), 2h55m1s. 2, Gonçalves (Husqvarna), +4m45s. 3, Despres (KTM), +6m24s. 4, Pedrero (KTM), +10m18s. 5, Lopez (KTM), +10m51s. Etc.
Provisional positions after Leg 11:
1, Despres (KTM), 33h48m29s. 2, Faria (KTM), +13m16s. 3, Lopez (KTM), +18m8s. 4, Jakes (KTM), +23m33s. 5, Botturi (Husqvarna), +29m32s. Etc.
