Barreda & Goncalves 1-2 for Honda in Stage 11 of Dakar Rally, Goncalves Still 2nd in Overall Bike Standings

Honda Racing Corporation

Stage Report

Thursday, Jan 15th 2015

Dakar Rally   2015 Dakar Rally Stage 11   Joan Barreda, flat out to victory in Termas de Río Hondo   A fourth win for Joan Barreda brings the Honda CRF450 RALLY a seventh triumph in the Dakar 2015. The Spanish athlete, first away this morning after yesterday’s marathon stage win, was also first to cross the finish-line in the Circuit of Termas de Río Hondo.   Barreda, who has clearly put his troubles from the Uyuni stage behind him, once again showed a white-knuckle display of speed and agility, picking up his fourth stage win so far in the event.   Paulo Gonçalves battled hard to keep all options of a final victory wide open in spite of a fifteen-minute penalization for an engine change at the end of the first leg of the marathon stage. The Portuguese ace finished in second place, and will be looking to try and reduce the deficit with his rival Marc Coma over the two final days.   Hélder Rodrigues made it through in eighth to Termas de Río Hondo, in a problem-free fashion, as the second leg of the marathon stage closed in spite of exhaustion after a sleepless night helping team-mates Paulo, Joan and Jeremías, swap first Paulo’s engine and then Joan’s.   Consequently, Jeremías Israel’s generosity in sacrificing his engine saw him unable to start the day’s stage. Spaniard Laia Sanz, one of the revelations of the competition, showed yet another speedy but prudent performance in the Salta region.   Javier Pizzolito was the best of the supporting Honda South America Rally Team, with a 16th place final finish, which moves the rider one notch up the overall scorecard to 20th. Jean Azevedo, who has shown great consistency throughout the entire event, wound up the stage in 25th place, and continues to hold 22nd overall.   Follow our riders in the race here  !! TOMORROW’S STAGE STAGE 12 – Friday, 16th January Termas de Río Hondo (ARG) – Rosario (ARG) Liaison: 726 km Special stage:  298 km Time for an attack   The Dakar will spend the night near the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, which regularly hosts the Argentine rounds of the GP motorbike and WTCC championships. But the Dakar’s competitors are set for a long cross-country journey, battling it out in this tension-packed penultimate day. A combative driver could still shake up the leaders’ positions even at this stage. And drivers who become too distracted could be caught by surprise by the surrounding vegetation!

Joan Barreda 1st 3:26'33 Yesterday we had to change Paulo’s engine with mine, which was fresher, and I had to put Jeremías’ one in. We were working until two in the morning and we only rested for a couple of hours. Today the first part of the stage was complicated by the rains of last night, mainly with the swollen rivers. I got to the refuelling fine, and after that I pushed really hard on the mountain paths. Everything went well and I was able to win. We have proved that we can win not only stages, but also the whole race. Right now, the main priority is a win for the team.

Paulo Goncalves 2nd + 00'17 We’ve finished off a hard marathon stage, in first and second place. But Mark’s overall position has improved because of the fifteen minute penalty for an engine change. It’s not possible to claw back twenty minutes racing, but anything could still happen. We’ve just got to keep working and take each day as it comes.

Helder Rodrigues 8th + 5'25 It’s been a great day for the team. We’ve all worked so hard to keep Team HRC’s options open on the final table, which is very important for us. I’m happy to be able to help the team in any way possible to reach that aim.

Laia Sanz 17th + 11'00 This year we have done two marathon stages in the same week and it’s been tough. Yesterday was really hard, because going through the Andes was exhausting, and we ended up having to sleep on the floor. Today I was more tired than normal, so I took it easy to make it through to the end, which is the main objective.

Wolfgang Fischer Team HRC Team Manager So, we have just arrived here at the end of this second marathon stage of this Dakar. This year the marathon stages have been a real rollercoaster for Team HRC. Yesterday, we had a very nice stage result with a victory from Joan Barreda after a very long day travelling over the mountains in Chile, but also without any problems at the end of the stage. On arriving back at the bivouac yesterday, they found out that Paulo’s engine had a problem and obviously, in the bivouac, the riders were on their own without any tools, but the four managed to work very well together, with a great team spirit, to help Paulo find out if they could fix the engine. Finally, after everything, they decided that they had to change the engine, so that Paulo could continue. The best way to do that was to remove the engine from Joan’s bike, because it was freshest and had only been removed two days before. They mounted it into Paulo’s bike and got everything working. Also, the decision was made to get Jeremias’ engine and put it into Joan’s bike, so we had to sacrifice one rider and now he’s out of the race so that the other riders could continue with the engines correctly mounted and working. Even after all the first marathon stage and only getting three hours sleep, they still managed to win and be second in the stage today; so it’s really fantastic team effort, and I’m really proud of the guys and what they did last night. So many thanks to Jeremias who was doing so well, always supportive and always making a super-human effort; first towing Joan back after the disaster in the salt flats, otherwise he would not be here; and yesterday he sacrificed his own race too, to help Joan finish today. We lost fifteen minutes for the engine change, but still anything is possible – nothing is won, nothing is lost. Two days to go. Thank you.

Results Stage 11 Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap 1 BARREDA Joan SPA Team HRC Honda 3:26'33 2 GONCALVES Paulo POR Team HRC Honda + 00'17 3 JAKES Ivan SLO Microstep Industry Team KTM + 1'35 4 FARIA Ruben POR KTM Red Bull Rally Factory KTM + 1'43 5 PRICE Toby AUS KTM AUS Rally Factory KTM + 2'17 6 COMA Marc SPA KTM Red Bull Rally Factory KTM + 2'40 7 QUINTANILLA Pablo CHI KTM KTM + 4'13 8 RODRIGUES Helder POR Team HRC Honda + 5'25 9 DUCLOS Alain FRA Sherco Rally Factory Sherco + 5'26 10 SVITKO Stefan SLO Slovnaft Team KTM + 5'28 11 VOGELS Hans NDL Team Hans Vogels KTM + 5'52 12 VERHOEVEN Frans NDL Yamaha Racing Yamaha + 7'09 13 PAIN Olivier FRA Yamaha Racing Yamaha + 7'46 14 CASTEU David FRA Team Casteu KTM + 8'17 15 PLANET Fabien FRA Sherco Rally Factory Sherco + 8'19 16 PIZZOLITO Javier ARG Honda South America Rally Team Honda + 8'20 17 SANZ Laia SPA Team HRC Honda + 11'00 24 AZEVEDO Jean BRA Honda South America Rally Team Honda + 15'13

Rider Standings Provisional Standings after Stage 11 Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap 1 COMA Marc SPA KTM Red Bull Rally Factory KTM 41:43'03 2 GONCALVES Paulo POR Team HRC Honda + 20'12 3 PRICE Toby AUS KTM AUS Rally Factory KTM + 31'43 4 QUINTANILLA Pablo CHI KTM KTM + 33'15 5 SVITKO Stefan SLO Slovnaft Team KTM + 48'07 6 FARIA Ruben POR KTM Red Bull Rally Factory KTM + 1:40'43 7 CASTEU David FRA Team Casteu KTM + 1:46'51 8 SANZ Laia SPA Team HRC Honda + 2:13'20 9 JAKES Ivan SLO Microstep Industry Team KTM + 2:24'46 10 PAIN Olivier FRA Yamaha Racing Yamaha + 2:55'17 12 RODRIGUES Helder POR Team HRC Honda + 3:25'39 19 BARREDA Joan SPA Team HRC Honda + 5:19'32 20 PIZZOLITO Javier ARG Honda South America Rally Team Honda + 6:08'08 23 AZEVEDO Jean BRA Honda South America Rally Team Honda + 6:22'48

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Videos These videos are available on YouTube although may be unlisted. Team HRC Rally Dakar 2015 - Stage 10 - Behind the Scenes

Location Information   The greatest and toughest rally in the world, the Dakar’s history has been written in the heart of some of the world’s most stunning deserts and belongs to the world of the greatest sporting challenges of our time. Both a motor race and an orienteering challenge, the Dakar Rally pits…read more.