Day 2 – Santa Rosa to Puerto Madryn Done!
Both Gary and Philip finished Day 2 successfully again – out of 230 riders, Gary started at 206th position and Philip at 229th position in the sequencing of riders. Gary now lies at 118th position while Philip took 140th position today – they’ll be pleased with that result. Today was the longest stage of the rally with lots of speed particularly on the off-road parts. Speaking to Philip last night both Irish team riders are in great spirits and enjoying it so far.
News from Day 2 of the official Dakar website – What is true one day is not always thus the day after. The same could be said for Marc Coma, whose display between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madryn could give hope to the other leading bikers in the rally. Having set off first, with the responsibility of leading the way, the Spaniard continued in much the same vein to start with as his brilliant showing yesterday, landing the best time at CP2, 2.20 ahead of Jonah Street. But he was only half way there! The situation took a turn for the worse on one of the quick sections of which he is so fond, when he was slowed down by a radiator problem. Frans Verhoven, renowned for his consistency, took advantage of this mishap to grab his first ever special stage victory on the Dakar, after having been water carrier for Cyril Despres in 2007. Indeed, his former team leader took second place on the day’s stage, 30 seconds behind and as a result climbs up to 12th place in the general standings.
Many riders would still like to be in Marc Coma’s shoes however, since he has a lead of 13.47 over his new pursuer, Frans Verhoven. Provisional third place on the podium went to Jonah Street, who was 5th to cross the finishing line today. This 2nd stage also gave David Fretigné the opportunity to climb up to 4th position in the general standings. Only 24 seconds behind Cyril Despres on today’s special stage, the Yamaha rider confirmed that his 450cc has nothing to envy against the KTMs.
