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The highlights from the 9th stage of Dakar won by Nani Roma (Mini-Michelin).

Dakar 2013, étape 9 : Peterhansel prend une option sur la victoire / Peterhansel takes a step closer to victory

Although it was won by Spaniard Nani Roma, the longest leg of the 2013 Dakar saw Mini/Michelin’s Stéphane Peterhansel strengthen his overall lead after Nasser Al-Attiyah’s buggy sustained damaged.

Remportée par l’Espagnol Nani Roma, la plus longue étape du Dakar 2013 a conforté Stéphane Peterhansel en tête du rallye sur sa Mini/Michelin. Nasser Al-Attiyah a endommagé son Buggy.

Etape 9 : San Miguel de Tucuman-Cordoba (852 km)

After pulling off Ruta 157 to the right, we still faced a drive of some 80km before reaching the end of Stage 9, the longest of this year’s rally (593km, including a 120km neutralisation). It’s here that we started to see the first roads signs indicating place-names like La Falda, Cosquin and Capilla del Monte, all of which are visited by the WRC’s Rally Argentina.

Indeed, the Dakar resembled a WRC event today, with a menu of twisty, occasionally fast mountain stages which were technically challenging for the drivers. Orly Terranova, who was second on the road this morning, was the first driver to show at the finish control where he was noisily greeted by his home fans. “I had trouble overtaking Chicherit along a narrow, dusty portion. My brakes had a tendency to lock, reported the Argentine driver.

It was a brake issue, too, that prevented Giniel de Villiers from taking today’s win. The intermediate classifications showed the South African Toyota Hilux driver in the lead before his front-right brake disc failed: “We didn’t have any spare rear discs, so we continued after isolating the rear brakes. It’s a shame because it would have been nice to earn a stage win for Toyota.”

Despite his disappointment, the 2009 Dakar winner has emerged in second place overall after Nasser Al-Attiyah hit a tree with 100km remaining. Lucio Alvarez suffered the same misfortune and badly damaged his windscreen. “A branch entered the cabin, but we were lucky.” Guerlain Chicherit was also reported to have stopped with a damaged wheel by Carlos Sousa who was himself troubled by the smell of transmission oil.

The day’s winner was Nani Roma who collected his second stage victory of this year’s event. “I spent more than 200km in Robby Gordon’s dust,” the Spaniard grumbled at the finish.

“We were travelling at the same speed as him but we had to pass a high number of bike and quad riders at the same time. It wasn’t easy for anyone,” noted the American driver.

Après avoir quitté la Ruta 157 sur la droite, il nous restait environ 80 km pour accéder à l’arrivée de cette 9^e spéciale, la plus longue du rallye (593 km dont 120 de neutralisation). C’est là que nous avons vu les premiers panneaux - La Falda, Cosquin, Capilla del Monte – des hauts lieux du Rallye d’Argentine.

D’ailleurs, le Dakar est passé en mode WRC aujourd’hui avec des pistes montagneuses, sinueuses, parfois rapides, en tout cas très techniques. C’est « Orly » Terranova, parti 2^e ce matin, qui est arrivé le 1^er à l’arrivée, sous les vivas de ses fans. « J’ai eu du mal pour doubler Chicherit, c’était étroit et poussiéreux. Mes freins avaient tendance à rester bloquer », expliquait l’Argentin.

Les freins, c’est justement ce qui a privé Giniel de Villiers d’une victoire promise. Au volant de son Toyota Hilux, le Sud-Africain était pointé en tête aux intermédiaires jusqu’à la casse de son disque de frein avant droit : « On n’avait que des disques arrière en secours, alors on a continué ainsi en déconnectant le circuit. C’est dommage, j’aurai bien voulu offrir une victoire d’étape à Toyota. »

Le vainqueur du Dakar 2009 accède malgré tout à la 2^e place du général puisque Nasser Al-Attiyah a tapé un arbre à 100 km de l’arrivée. Même mésaventure pour Lucio Alvarez dont le pare-brise était carrément éventré à l’arrivée : « La branche a traversé le cockpit, on a eu de la chance. » Guerlain Chicherit était lui aussi signalé arrêté après une touchette et une roue endommagée, d’après Carlos Sousa, perturbé par une odeur d’huile de boîte de vitesses.

Le vainqueur du jour est Nani Roma, qui remporte sa seconde victoire d’étape sur ce Dakar : « J’ai pourtant roulé plus de 200 km dans la poussière de Robby Gordon », pestait l’Espagnol à l’arrivée. « On roulait à la même vitesse et il y avait de nombreux quads et motos entre nous qu’il fallait doubler, ce n’était facile pour personne aujourd’hui », se défendait l’Américain.

Classement étape 9

1. Roma/Périn (Mini), 5h36min28s – 2. Peterhansel/Cottret (Mini), +6min54s – 3. Terranova/Fiuza (BMW), +6min54s – 4. Gordon/Walch (Hummer), +8min37s – 5. De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz (Toyota), +9min39s…

Classement après étape 9

1. Peterhansel/Cottret (Mini), 24:11:43 – 2. De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz (Toyota), +49min31s – 3. Novitskiy/Zhilstov (Mini), +56min03s – 4. Roma/Périn (Mini), + 1h34min16s – 5. Terranova/Fiuza (BMW), +2h01min08s…

Dakar2013 - Leg 9: Despres strikes a blow

Cyril Despres (KTM/Michelin) has made strong progress in the overall classification of the 2013 Dakar Rally today (Monday), by winning the ninth stage as rivals David Casteu, Olivier Pain and Chaleco Lopez all lost time. Ruben Faria has moved to the top of the leaderboard.

Leg 9: San Miguel de Tucuman - Cordoba (852km)

Between San Miguel de Tucuman and the heights of Cordoba, Ruta 157 is essentially a long straight line stretching some 500km across plains characterised by farming and cattle breeding. At Km280 (Recreo), where competitors paused after completing the first part of the stage, the tension was palpable...

It was during that first section that leader David Casteu almost certainly lost all hope of victory by colliding with a cow. Suffering a shoulder injury in the impact and subsequently treated by the medical team at Recreo, the Nice-based rider bravely pressed on despite the discomfort. His team-mate Olivier Pain also fell, though thankfully less seriously, 370km into the stage, thereafter complaining of back ache. Another faller was fellow erstwhile rally leader, Chile’s Chaleco Lopez.

Meanwhile, four-time Dakar winner Cyril Despres truly threw down the gauntlet to his adversaries today by prevailing to the tune of more than four minutes over Joan Barreda: "I need to thank both my physical trainer for helping me to develop solid legs and Michelin for supplying me with Bib Mousse-equipped Desert Race tyres. Without their help, I wouldn't have won this stage," declared the KTM rider after a magnificent 5h41m36s effort. "I had made a special note of this stage from the start, and I pushed hard from start to finish…”

Despres has consequently advanced in the overall standings to now lie second behind his team-mate and new leader Ruben Faria, who remarked: "It was a long and difficult stage, with 90 per cent of the tracks running through the forest and countless turns. My mission is to help Cyril win his fifth Dakar Rally, and I have every intention of doing just that…”

Behind Barreda, Alessandro Botturi was third-fastest, making it two Husqvarna/Michelins in the day's top three: "That reminded me of my time in Enduro," smiled the Italian at the stage end. Meantime, Portugal's Helder Rodriguez (fourth-quickest today) still has his sights set on a podium finish in Santiago.

Stage 9 classification:

1. Despres (KTM), 5h41min36s – 2. Barreda (Husqvarna), +4min03s – 3. Botturi (Husqvarna), +5min14s – 4. Faria (KTM) + +7min47s 5. Rodriguez (Honda), +8min47s...

Provisional standings after Leg 9:

1. Faria (KTM), 25:57:12 - 2. Despres (KTM) +5min23s - 3. Lopez (KTM) +9min03s - 4. Jakes (KTM) +16min56s - 5. Botturi (Husqvarna) +22min58