Helder Rodrigues wins ninth stage. Four Honda CRF450 RALLYs among top five spots

Immediate Team HRC response to yesterday’s ill-fated eighth Dakar stage, with four Honda CRF450 RALLY bikes occupying the first five positions. Portuguese Helder Rodrigues triumphant in the tough special stage in Calama.

Great day all round for Team HRC, registering a fifth victory so far in this edition of the Dakar 2015, and picking up a further one-two with Helder clinching the honours and an in-form Paulo Goncalves seizing runner-up spot. The Laia Sanz crusade up the overall rankings continues, the Spanish ace claiming eighth in a complicated special.

Helder Rodrigues sped his way to top line of today’s scorecard, over a 450 kilometre timed special, his second triumph thus far in the campaign. He had his work cut out, on a route that tackled broken-up paths, rocky terrain, and dirt track, requiring riders to be at their technical and navigational best just to make headway. Tucked in behind was fellow-countryman and team-mate from HRC, Paulo Goncalves, who whittled almost four minutes off Marc Coma’s final time. The Portuguese rider stands just 5’28” off the overall race leader.

Joan Barreda, after conceding three hours in yesterday’s exhausting marathon, was once again back in the hunt, with the special stage heading from Iquique to Calama, just the type of terrain suited to the Spaniard. Had it not been for a mild hitch in finding a waypoint, the man from Castellon could have improved on his final fourth place finish, on a day where Team HRC gave an excellent display of teamwork and bravado.

Jeremias Israel, likewise, spent much of the day amongst the front-runners, but a failure to find a waypoint and the consequent fear of running out of fuel, obliged the Chilean to incur a penalty that drops him down the overall order.
Javier Pizzolito of Honda South America Rally Team, once again excelled himself, after holding the leading position for a great part of yesterday’s race, the Argentinian Cross-Country Rallies champion finished in fifth on the day.

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TOMORROW’S STAGE
STAGE 10 – Wednesday, 14th January
Calama (CHI) – Cachi (ARG)

Liaison: 520 km
Special stage: 371 km

Breathtaking
The bikers will set off for their second marathon stage! After the Chile-Argentina border, this time the day’s special stage will start on the Salinas Grandes, more than 3,600m above sea level. The altitude should curb the competitors’ enthusiasm and cool down their engines. The more technical final phase will separate the toughest of them from the rest. For the Liaison, the route will then follow the Paso de l’Acay, at an altitude of 4,970m.