After being delayed by a damaged wheel on Monday, Spain’s Joan Barreda (Husqvarna/Michelin) bounced back to record today’s fastest time, ahead Olivier Pain and David Casteu. The latter two riders are now first and second overall after Cyril Despres dropped 17m35s.
Leg 4: Nazca-Arequipa (717km)
The finish of SS4 – one of the 2013 Dakar’s toughest challenges – was situated near Jacqui, a handful of kilometres from the Pan American Highway. Despite the breeze blowing in from the Pacific Ocean, the heat in the middle of the Peruvian dunes was searing. By 10am, the ground temperature was a cool 42°C as the first bikers showed up at the control.
Husqvarna riders Paulo Gonçalves and Alessandro Botturi arrived at the same time as the Honda 450 CRF of Gerard Farres Guel who has been running with a replacement engine since Leg 2 (15-minute time penalty). “The navigation was difficult,” reported Botturi as he pulled off his helmet.
Cyril Despres was next to show: “Like yesterday and the day before, I ran ahead of the pack, but they passed me a few kilometres from the finish. That’s the way it is…” The four-time Dakar winner clearly isn’t happy with his role as the ‘hare’!
He ended up in 15th place today, more than 17 minutes behind the stage winner Joan Barreda Bort (Husqvarna/Michelin) who was helped by his running order. “It’s been a perfect day,” smiled the Spaniard. “It was a magnificent stage, with lots of navigation, some impressive downhill sections and a flat-out portion along the beach.”
Barreda was fastest up to all the passage controls and eventually beat Yamaha/Michelin riders Olivier Pain and David Casteu. “I didn’t take any risks and just tried to concentrate on my navigation”, said the new leader, Pain, modestly. With Casteu up to second overall, the only problem for Yamaha was the mechanical trouble encountered by de Frans Verhoeven (fuel system) who was running together with Pain.
The factory Honda riders recovered from their problems on Monday, with Farres Guel and Helder Rodrigues both finishing in today’s top five.
Stage 4 classification:
1, Barreda (Husqvarna), 3h41m9s. 2, Pain (Yamaha), +8m23.3s. 3, Casteu (Yamaha), +10m42.4s. 4, Farres Guel (Honda), +11m40.5s. 5, Rodrigues (Honda), +11m43.6s. Etc.
Provisional positions after Leg 4:
1, Pain (Yamaha), 10h10m38. 2, Casteu (Yamaha), +2m24s. 3, Despres (KTM), +3m9s. 4, Barreda (Husqvarna), +5m38.5s. 5, Viladoms (KTM), +7m22.6s. Etc.
