Team HRC Riders Rodrigues 4th While Barreda Crashes & Loses Over Two Hours Dropping to 7th-Place Overall in Stage 12 of Dakar Rally

Dakar 2014

Stage 12

17/01/2014

Helder Rodrigues, fourth in the penultimate Dakar 2014 special

It was a troublesome stage for TEAM HRC in Copiapo, where Helder Rodrigues finished fourth and Javier Pizzolito tenth, on a day which Joan Barreda’s chances of taking a podium place in Valparaiso ended.

The penultimate day of the Rally Dakar was played out first over rocky terrain before reaching a 150 km stretch of dunas outside Copiapó. Towering dunes in which one had to pay strict attention to the navigation.

Portuguese rider Hélder Rodrigues rode into Copiapó aboard his Honda CRF450 RALLY in fourth place. ‘Estrelinha’ now lies in fifth overall place just ten minutes away from a final place on the podium. Rodrigues will battle it out every inch of the way before the race winds up in Valparaíso tomorrow.

Javier Pizzolito put in a good performance in the stage, with a tenth final place some 12’49” off the eventual winner.

Joan Barreda, after marking a strong rhythm in the first part of the race, arrived at the refuelling in second place. He crashes in the kilometre 264 of the special in the area of sand dunes around Copiapo. He was forced to repair the damage and, subsequently, was unable to continue at full-speed. The Spanish rider fought on to stay in the race and finish the special. Now, he moves to the seventh place in the overall.

Once again the commendable effort of the female member of Honda Argentina Rally Team, Laia Sanz, should be pointed out, finishing the penultimate stage in twelfth place, and thus scaling various positions on the overall leader-board. The Catalan rider is now in 14th. Pablo Gonzalez finished the day in 24th position.

Video Stage 11                                             Video Behind the Scenes 11

Helder Rodrigues       4th       +07'21       TEAM HRC

I rode a good stage and I felt comfortable. I saw Joan after his fall and asked him if he needed any help. He told me that it wasn’t necessary, so I carried on. It was a real shame that we was unable to carry on with the bike damaged, and needed the help of another rider to finish the special.

Classification Stage 12

1	Cyril Despres	03:58'18	FRA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Racing
2	Marc Coma	+2'17	ESP	KTM	KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
3	Olivier Pain	+5'53	FRA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Racing
4	Helder Rodrigues	+7'21	POR	HONDA	TEAM HRC
5	Jordi Viladoms	+9'10	ESP	KTM	KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
6	Daniel Gouet	+9'52	CHI	HONDA	Tamarugal Honda Racing XC Rally Team
7	Kuba Przygonski	+10'45	POL	KTM	KTM Rally Factory
8	David Casteu	+11'03	FRA	KTM	Team Casteu
9	Ivan Jakes	+12'04	SLO	KTM	Nad Ress Adventure
10	Javier Pizzolito	+12'49	ARG	HONDA	TEAM HRC

General standings after Stage 12

1	Marc Coma	52:40'16	ESP	KTM	KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
2	Jordi Viladoms	+01:59'49	ESP	KTM	KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
3	Olivier Pain	+02:10'16	FRA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Racing
4	Cyril Despres	+02:14'01	FRA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Racing
5	Helder Rodrigues	+02:20'39	POR	HONDA	TEAM HRC
6	Kuba Przygonski	+02:37'23	POL	KTM	KTM Rally Factory
7	Joan Barreda	+03:04'54	ESP	HONDA	TEAM HRC
8	Daniel Gouet	+03:17'10	CHI	HONDA	Tamarugal Honda Racing XC Rally Team
9	Stefan Svitko	+03:52'45	SLO	KTM	Oraving Slovnaft Team
10	David Casteu	+04:01'42	FRA	KTM	Team Casteu

TOMORROW'S STAGE

Saturday, January 18
Stage 13: La Serena – Valparaíso
Liasion: 378 km            Special: 157 km            Total: 535 km

---

Watch out for the needles

Before admiring the hillsides brought to life by the houses in Valparaiso, the competitors will have to climb the hills planted with cacti during the rally’s last special stage. The pride and joy of crossing the finish line is drawing closer, but the statistics are formal: every year one or several drivers come unstuck during this final exercise so prudence is required! Even this close to the finish, vigilance is the competitors’ best ally to ensure their presence on the final podium.