Bike news from Stage 4

Dakar 2012 - Argentina/Chile - Stage 4  January 4th, 2012



12:15 - bike  023 - Changes behind the Top 3 at CP1

137 kilometres into the special, behind Coma, Despres and Rodrigues, Spain's Joan Barreda Bort is making progress in fourth place, 2'43" behind Coma. France's Olivier Pain lies fifth at 3'05", with Norway's Pal Andres Ullevalseter sixth at 3'28".



11:49 - bike 001 - Coma takes the lead!

Provisional classification at CP1 (km 137) after the first six motorcycles have gone through: Marc Coma is taking full advantage of the trace today and is surging ahead confidently. He is pulling out all the stops! The Spaniard has posted a time of 1 h 33'25", with Despres 1'15" back. Hélder Rodrigues is third at 2'34", with Francisco López 4th at 3'29" and Casteu 5th at 6'43". Gonçalves has been unlucky from the start of the special and now lies 8'21" back...



11:34 - bike 002 - Despres makes it to CP1

The Frenchman has crossed the timing line, clocking 1 h 35'16" for the first 137 kilometres. Motorcycle riders are due to fill up their tanks just after this point before continuing the special. Meanwhile, his main chasers are taking their time...


11:06 - bike 007 - Gonçalves takes a wrong turn!

The Portuguese rider, who started today's special in third place, has taken a wrong turn at km 99, heading west instead of north-east. He is losing heaps of time to the riders ahead of him, Cyril Despres and Frans Verhoeven.



09:53 - bike 002 - Despres is in the special!

France's Cyril Despres has just started the 326-kilometre special on today's menu. He will be followed by the Netherlands' Frans Verhoeven and Portugal's Paulo Gonçalves. Hélder Rodrigues and David Casteu stand fourth and fifth on the course, with Spain's Marc Coma and Chile's Francisco López hot on their heels.


05:35 - bike 002 - Motorcycle riders are on their way...

Cyril Despres has just set off for Guandacol, La Rioja Province, where Wednesday's special starts. A 270-kilometre appetiser before the timed sector (326 km), where the Frenchman will throttle up his motorcycle for the first time at 9:45 am. He will be followed by Verhoeven, Gonçalves, Rodrigues, Casteu and the 156 motorcycle riders expected to leave the bivouac. We are waiting for today's list of non-starters...




04:30  Stage 4: Navigation in the river beds...

On the menu for the fourth stage between San Juan – Chilecito, for all the competitors, are 424 kilometres of link stage and 326 km of special. The stage starts at 5.30 AM local time for the bikes, 7.16 AM for the cars and 9.33 AM for the trucks.


Its summit is located at almost 3,500 metres in altitude and it will contain sandy terrain and rocks, surfaces which will again throw a proverbial cat amongst the proverbial pigeons and shake up the standings. Cyril Despres will open the road on two wheels and Holowczyc is the new main man in the car category.


Whilst the Frenchman boasts a decent lead after the third stage, the advantage possessed by the Polish driver is rather fragile… On the special stage, nobody will be able to take it easy, because, whether in terms of the navigational subtleties at the end of the route or the small obstacles to avoid, there will be plenty of occasions to lose time and ground.


 It is likely that once the rally arrives in Chilecito, one or two pretenders will already have been eliminated from the battle for the title!

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