Team HRC's Barreda Finishes in 2nd-Place, Rodrigues in 4th-Place for Stage 8 of Dakar Rally

Dakar 2014

Stage 8

13/01/2014

Barreda runner-up in second part of the marathon stage

TEAM HRC’s Joan Barreda finished the eighth stage of the Rally Dakar 2014 in second place. Hélder Rodrigues crossed the finish-line in fourth, and Laia Sanz continues her run of excellent performances on the Honda CRF450 RALLY pre-production model.

The Dakar said goodbye to an accommodating and vibrant Bolivia, and has moved on to Chile. Today saw the second leg of the marathon stage, in the area of Salar de Uyuni, which had been reduced in length by some twelve kilometres.

Joan Barreda, yesterday’s winner, set about cutting down the distance with the overall race leader, opening the way in the special, in a solitary ride in which we clocked up a total time of 2’10”, second only to Cyril Despres. Barreda has clawed back four seconds from Marc Coma in the overall standings.

Hélder Rodrigues, looking far more at ease in this stage, finished fourth some 6’44” behind the stage winner, and Javier Pizzolito ended the race in eighteenth.

Honda Argentina Rally Team’s accumulation of good stage results continues with Laia Sanz always in the top twenty at the various time checks, finishing fifteenth at the end of the day. Team-mate Pablo ‘Cacha’ Rodríguez finished in the top fifty.

Joan Barreda       2nd       +2'10       TEAM HRC
It was a really long special today and I’m very pleased with the marathon. I was ahead, opening the way, pushing hard and forcing the pace to try and cause the others to make mistakes. It hasn’t happened yet, but we have done really well with a couple of great stages and I’m very satisfied with a job well done.

Helder Rodrigues       4th       +6'44       TEAM HRC
It was a good stage for me and I’ve picked up a few minutes on my nearest rivals. My goal is to fight for a place on the podium, that’s 45 minutes away, which is quite a lot, but I’m determined to give my all to achieve it.

Classifications Stage 8

1	Cyril Despres	05:23'20	FRA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Racing
2	Joan Barreda	+02'09	ESP	HONDA	TEAM HRC
3	Marc Coma	+02'15	ESP	KTM	KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
4	Helder Rodrigues	+06'38	POR	HONDA	TEAM HRC
5	Olivier Pain	+10'40	FRA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Racing
6	Mickael Metge	+12'58	FRA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Racing
7	Riian Van Niekerk	+13'15	SAF	KTM	Brother Link KTM Rally Factory
8	Daniel Gouet	+13'23	CHI	HONDA	Tamarugal Honda Racing XC Rally Team
9	Kuba Przygonski	+13'29	POL	KTM	KTM Rally Factory
10	Jordi Viladoms	+13'34	ESP	KTM	KTM Red Bull Rally Factory

General standings after Stage 8

1	Marc Coma	36:06'19	ESP	KTM	KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
2	Joan Barreda	+38'08	ESP	HONDA	TEAM HRC
3	Jordi Viladoms	+01:27'22	ESP	KTM	KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
4	Alain Duclos	+01'49'09	FRA	SHERCO	Sherco Rally Factory
5	Jeremias Israel	+01'52'05	CHL	SPEEDBRAIN	Team Speedbrain
6	Olivier Pain	+01:59'07	FRA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Racing
7	Kuba Przygonski	+02:06'06	POL	KTM	KTM Rally Factory
8	Helder Rodrigues	+02:12'41	POR	HONDA	TEAM HRC
9	Cyril Despres	+02:23'58	FRA	YAMAHA	Yamaha Racing
10	Daniel Gouet	+02:38'51	CHI	HONDA	Tamarugal Honda Racing XC Rally Team

TOMORROW'S STAGE

Tuesday, January 14
Stage 9: Calama - Iquique
Liasion: 29 km            Special: 422 km            Total: 451 km

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A steep drop: thrills guaranteed

The 2014 Dakar will reach its most northern point in Iquique, where the competitors will see the ocean for the first time this year. Above all, the drivers and teams will discover the Atacama Dunes again after a first part of a special stage which will be rather tedious. Dune specialists will be in command over a distance of almost 150km. Thrills will be guaranteed at the very end of the day, on the last three kilometres of the descent to Iquique: there is more than a 30% difference in height from start to finish and it is almost not recommended to break. The law of gravitation takes on its full meaning: the bivouac is not far away!