Dakar tide turns in Coma's favour

Frenchman Cyril Despres has relinquished his lead to arch-rival Marc Coma in the 2012 Dakar Rally after he got caught out by mud that wasn’t marked on the road book – the digest that all riders rely on to guide their fate. He lost 12 minutes during the unscheduled mud play.

When the first tranche of results came out, Despres nearly eight-minute lead became a nine-minute deficit, but officials then adjusted times on the basis that the mud had occurred in between the time that the official inspection of the stage had taken place and the actual start of the stage, and this was the reason it was not marked on the road book.

After the dust (mud?) had settled, Coma now holds a one-minute and 26-second lead (1:26) over Despres, with Portugese rider Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha, 49:01) maintaining his hold on third overall in the general classification.

Alex Doringer, team manager for the KTM factory outfit, said that while KTM welcomed the race officials’ decision to compensate the riders and reinstate times, the company felt that Coma should have also had some time credited because he was also affected, if to a lesser degree than his teammate.

“We welcome the fact that Cyril’s times have been reinstated, but we feel that if this decision was based on sporting fairness, then Marc’s time should also have been adjusted,” Doringer said.

The eighth stage included the longest timed special in the 2012 edition, taking riders 477km. It was set between two liaison stretches that took them to 3000m above sea level. Riders were on their bikes for a massive 722km by the time they got to the finish at Antofagasta on the Chilean coast.

In the day’s standings, KTM factory rider Rubin Faria was second to Coma and, after the time adjustment, Rodrigues moved into third place.

“It was a very long special,” Coma said. “I was lucky not to lose too much time in the mud and then I saw I could open a gap, so I attacked really hard. This is my 20th special victory. That’s a nice figure but it’s not winning the special that count, it’s winning the race. And I know there is still a long week of racing ahead.”