Dakar Rally 2011: H&H’s SS6 Overall Results and Stage Report

In the Dakar Rally the only constants are the long days in the South American heat, sand dunes and punctures. Ask Cyril Despres, Stephane Peterhansel and Ales Loprais, reports EVAN ROTHMAN.

SS6: Iqueque to Aricas
Road Section: 265km
Special Stage: 456km

Bikes:
Ruben Faria (KTM) and Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) romped home to the finish line, outstripping their rivals as Faria claimed the stage win ahead of fast-charging Yamaha of Rodrigues. Faria pinned his throttle open in a bid to close the growing gap between himself and his teammate Despres, and in doing so set the pace alight. Faria is Despres’ water carrier and his duty is to ride shotgun with Despres to offer assistance in any matter for the fast Frenchman.

Despres has managed to reel in 01min of Marc Coma’s (KTM) lead, reducing it to 08min 48sec. In third place is Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia), but he now has only 05min over Rodrigues and 07min over Faria in the overall standings.

Cars:
Stephane Peterhansel (BMW X3CC) saw his march towards the top of the leaderboard come to a halt this week as the Dakar Rally 2011 reaches a rest day after this stage. Peterhansel was once again leading the way at all Way Points along the stage, but a navigational error at mid-point of the stage cost him 07min and he was beset with four punctures to drop 12min 25sec to Carlos Sainz (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3). This left Sainz to win his 21st Dakar Rally stage, with his teammates in flying formation to claim second, third and fourth in the stage standings. This promoted Al-Attiyah to second place overall.

Trucks:
The seemingly unbeatable Kamaz crews headed by Vladimir Chagin and Firdaus Kabirov were treated to a display of fault-free high-speed driving performance by Tatra’s top driver Ales Loprais. The young driver won the stage by a remarkable 03min 55sec, ending a 24 stage win streak that started in Copiapo in the 2009 Dakar Rally.

Classification over SS6:
Bikes:
01) M. Coma (KTM) – 22hr 40m 20s
02) C. Despres (KTM) + 08m 48s
03) F. Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +22m 12s
04) H. Rodrigues (Yamaha) + 27m 35s
05) R. Faria (KTM) + 39m 41s
06) J. Viladoms (Yamaha) + 49m 30s
07) J. Street (Yamaha) + 57m 36s
08) F. Verhoeven (BMW) + 01hr 01m 30s
09) J. Pedrero Garcia (KTM) + 01hr 02m 13s
10) S. Svitko (KTM) + 01hr 09m 20s

Cars:
01) C. Sainz/L. Cruz (VW) – 20hr 39m 41s
02) N. Al-Attiyah/T. Gottschalk (VW) + 02m 42s
03) S. Peterhansel/J-P. Cottret (BMW) + 14m 51s
04) G. De Villiers/D. Von Zitzewitz (VW) + 31m 09s
05) K. Holowycz/J-M. Fortin (BMW) + 01hr 13m 19s
06) M. Miller/R. Pitchford (VW) + 01hr 35m 53s
07) O. Terranova/F. Palmeiro (BMW) + 01hr 37m 54s
08) G. Spinelli/Y. Haddad (Mitsubishi) + 02hr 17m 56s
09) G. Chicherit/M. Perin (MINI) + 02hr 45m 25s
10) C. Lavielle/J-P. Forthomme (Nissan) + 03hr 07m 54s

Trucks:
01) F. Kabirov (Kamaz) – 23hr 43m 40s
02) V. Chagin (Kamaz) + 19m 20s
03) A. Loprais (Tatra) + 21m 25s
04) E. Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 01hr 26m 18s
05) F. Echter (MAN) + 02hr 10m 57s
06) I. Mardeev ( Kamaz) + 02hr 40m 25s
07) P. Vila (Iveco) + 04hr 16m 21s
08) M. Van Vliet (MAN) + 05hr 08m 40s
09) M. Behringer (MAN) + 05hr 40m 27s
10) A. Ardavichus (Kamaz) + 06m 31m 02s