Joan Barreda was first in Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally today, but a move to help teammate Paulo Goncalves was costly for both men.
Joan Barreda is riding like the pressure is off—because it is—and that appeared to help elevate him to his fourth stage win of the 2015 Dakar Rally today.
Only it didn’t.
The Team HRC Honda rider led off the second portion of the final marathon stages, which left Cachi, just outside of Salta, Argentina, and ran along the famous Ruta 40, the longest road in Argentina and one that is known as an adventure route with dazzling landscape views. After a short 24-kilometer transfer section, the competitors got into the day’s special stage, which measured 357 kilometers including a 59-kilometer neutralized portion. The day finished with another transfer of 142 kilometers into Termas de Rio Hondo. Barreda showed his trademark speed all day, crossing the finish line with a time of 3 hours, 26 minutes and 33 seconds.
Barreda wasn’t the only rider pushing hard on the stage. His Team HRC Honda teammate Paulo Goncalves rode hard in attempt to keep pressure on overall rally leader Mark Coma. Goncalves finished with the second fastest time of the stage, just 17 seconds behind Barreda, and was able to pull back 2 minutes and 23 seconds on Coma.
However, the efforts of both men were in vain as team tactics overshadowed their respective performances. Both Team HRC Honda men were assessed 16-minute time penalties for swapping engines. Goncalves took Barreda’s engine, and Barreda in turn took Jeremias Israel’s engine per the team hierarchy, signalling the end of the rally for Israel. The penalty dropped Barreda dropped both men outside the top 10 for the day and put Goncalves nearly 20 minutes behind Coma with just two stages remaining, all but eliminating Goncalves from contention for the Dakar Rally win.
“I had a problem with my engine yesterday and had to change it,” Goncalves said. “Since it was a marathon stage, of course one of our riders had to stay in Cachi. It was C’est [Jeremias Israel] who gave his engine [ultimately]. It’s very brave to have done that. It’s the end of the race for him, so I’m going to try and get the best position so that I can dedicate it to him. Because of the penalty, I’ve given a free 15 minutes to all my rivals, but that’s the rules of the race and they’re the same for everybody. It was already difficult 7 minutes behind, even if I managed to regain around two minutes on the stage today. But now it’s even more difficult. That said, others can also have the problem that I had yesterday, so it’s not too late to hope to finish in the top position.”
Coma finished sixth today on the clock but was moved up to fourth in the stage after the Honda penalties, and he remains in the overall lead, but the Spanish rider may be faced with the same decision as his Portuguese rival; Coma may choose to change engines prior to the final two stages, thus incurring the same time penalty, which could tighten the standings again. If he elects to finish with the same engine, there is always the possibility that he could encounter a failure. Time will tell what late-race strategies are used and how they will affect the overall results.
“We’ve managed to get through it,” Coma said. “It’s always stressful when you have to work on the bike, but everything is okay. There is still a difficult day to complete tomorrow then again on Saturday. I’m not thinking about the finish yet. We’ll see, because there are still a fair few kilometers to go, but for the moment I’m happy.”
Slovakian KTM rider Ivan Jakes enjoyed his best day of the 2015 Dakar Rally today, finishing third, just 1 minute and 35 seconds behind Barreda before being elevated to the Stage 11 win as a result of the penaltis to Barreda and Goncalves. Jakes outran consistent stage finishers Ruben Faria, Toby Price and Pablo Quintanilla. Price also took full advantage of Quintanilla, who has been detuned by an illness, to slip past the Chilean and into third place in the overall standings.
2015 Dakar Rally
Stage 11
Salta-Termas Rio Hond, Argentina
Results: January 15, 2015 (Stage 11 of 13)
1. Ivan Jakes (SVK)-KTM/3 hours, 28 minutes, 8 seconds
2. Ruben Faria (PRT)-KTM/+00:00:08
3. Toby Price (AUS)-KTM/+00:00:42
4. Marc Coma (ESP)-KTM/+00:01:05
5. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL)-KTM/+00:02:38
6. Helder Rodrigues (PRT)-Hon/+00:03:50
7. Stefan Svitko (SVK)-KTM/+00:03:53
8. Hans Vogels (NLD)-KTM/+00:04:17
9. Frans Verhoeven (NLD)-Yam/+00:05:34
10. Olivier Pain (FRA)-Yam/+00:06:11
2015 Dakar Rally Standings (After 11 of 13 stages)
1. Marc Coma (ESP)-KTM/41 hours, 43 minutes, 03 seconds
2. Paulo Goncalves (PRT)-Hon/+00:21:12
3. Toby Price (AUS)-KTM/+00:31:43
4. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL)-KTM/+00:33:15
5. Stefan Svitko (SVK)-KTM/+00:48:07
6. Ruben Faria (PRT)-KTM/+01:40:43
7. David Casteu (FRA)-KTM/+01:46:51
8. Laia Sanz (ESP)-Hon/+02:13:20
9. Ivan Jakes (SVK)-KTM/+02:24:46
10. Olivier Pain (FRA)-Yam/+02:55:17
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