Dakar Rally 2011: SS4 Overall Results and Stage Report by HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS

Into Chile went the Dakar competitors, flat-out and with their rooster dust-trails taller than the trucks that followed them. The bike race hotted up, Carlos Sainz (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3) claimed his 20th Dakar Rally stage victory and Vladimir Chagin extended his lead in the trucks category, reports EVAN ROTHMAN.

SS4: San Salvador de Jujuy to Calama
Road Section: 554km
Special Stage: 207km

Bikes:
With seemingly no intention of playing out their strategies, Marc Coma (KTM) and Cyril Despres (KTM) have entered into a full-throttle battle. In SS4, the victory went to Coma but only just: 02sec separates the two dueling masters. In fact, after 1,220km of special stage distance now completed, the two riders are separated by just the 02sec and both have two stage victories to their name in 2011 thus far.

The remainder of the field, led by Chilean Francisco Lopez (Aprilia), finished 02min 05sec behind Coma to highlight the two top KTM riders’ hot pace. Lopez is now in third place overall, up from seventh after SS3, but 20min 12sec off the lead pace. An intriguing battle for third place is now in full swing with five riders within 07min of each other (which in Dakar Rally history is but only a handful of seconds in a WRC event, in comparison).

Cars:
The wily Spaniard Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Crus (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3) can be relieved that the attack from Stephane Peterhansel (BMW X3CC) has abated for now, but they cannot rest easy as his Qatari teammate Nasser Al Attiyah is still ever-present. Peterhansel suffered a puncture on this stage and was thereby slowed by that, but his forte (the dunes) are still to come…

Giniel de Villiers (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3) is still in fourth place overall after this long stage, and now enjoys an 08min advantage of Krystof Holowycz (BMW X3CC) in fifth position, but De Villiers is nearly 20min off Sainz.
Robbie Gordon (Hummer H3) withdrew from the event on this stage, suffering major mechanical woes. Another USA driver not enjoying the best of Dakar Rallies is Mark Miller (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3), who is nearly an hour off the lead already.

Guerlain Chicherit (MINI) is the biggest mover in the Cars category, jumping from 76th to 14th overall after his troublesome start to the event on SS1.

Trucks:
Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) has put the hammer down to win his third stage of 2011 and to extend his overall lead in the category by a further 02min. Ales Loprais suffered a puncture, but still managed to set the third fastest stage time. This young driver will undoubtedly be hounding Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) for his second place spot in the coming days.

Classification after SS4:
Bikes:
01) M. Coma (KTM) – 11hr 43m 12s
02) C. Despres (KTM) + 02s
03) F. Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) + 20m 12s
04) P. Goncalves (BMW) + 25m 40s
05) H. Rodrigues (Yamaha) + 26m 02s
06) J. Pedrero Garcia (KTM) + 26m 23s
07) R. Faria (KTM) + 27m 07s
08) D. Fretigne (BMW) + 27m 16s
09) J. Viladoms (Yamaha) + 30m 11s
10) D. Casteu (Sherco) + 30m 20s

Cars:
01) C. Sainz/L. Cruz (VW) – 11hr 09m 14s
02) N. Al-Attiyah/T. Gottschalk (VW) + 04m 24s
03) S. Peterhansel/J-P. Cottret (BMW) + 05m 41s
04) G. De Villiers/D. Von Zitzewitz (VW) + 19m 14s
05) K. Holowycz/J-M. Fortin (BMW) + 27m 45s
06) O. Terranova/F. Palmeiro (BMW) + 33m 11s
07) L. Novitsky/A. Schulz (BMW) + 49m 40s
08) G. Spinelli/Y. Haddad (Mitsubishi) + 59m 45s
09) J. Roma/M. Perin (Nissan) + 01hr 08m 32s
10) M. Miller/R. Pitchford (VW) + 01hr 08m 36s

Trucks:
01) V. Chagin (Kamaz) + 11hr 49m 16s
02) F. Kabirov (Kamaz) + 08m 41s
03) A. Loprais (Tatra) + 12m 36s
04) F. Echter (MAN) + 46m 08s
05) E. Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 51m 46s
06) A. De Azevedo (Tatra) + 01hr 04m 20s
07) P. Vila (Iveco) + 01hr 06m 31s
08) I. Mardeev (Kamaz) + 01hr 12m 10s
09) H. Duisters (Iveco) + 01hr 14m 09s
10) M. Van Vliet (MAN) + 01hr 17m 57s