2015 Dakar Rally – Stage 6: A Shuffling of Things

Stage 6 of the 2015 Dakar Rally saw the riders head into Iquique, and while the course was fairly straight-forward, a navigational error at the front of the pack caused a shuffling in the stage’s finishing order.

Though first out of the gate, Marc Coma finished the day 7th, after crashing in the early parts of the stage. He was quickly caught by Joan Barreda, whose strategies seems to be sticking close to Coma at all costs, minimizing the KTM rider’s ability to gain time on his Honda rival.

This left HRC’s Helder Rodrigues who took the stage win, planting another flag for Honda in this year’s Dakar. The Japanese manufacturer is proving to be a serious contender in the Dakar Rally, and could upset KTM’s dominance of the rally raid event.

“I started out from behind, but I caught up with the riders who were opening the road. They were very quick, but I also had the speed to catch them,” said Rodrigues. “I’m pleased with the way it turned out and was very calm until the end. It’s rest-day tomorrow, which we really need, to get the energy back and plan next the second week as well as possible. I want to keep attacking and claw back a bit of time in the overall standings.”

Joan Barreda followed Coma down the rabbit hole on his navigation error, but the mistake makes little difference in the overall results. As such Barreda remains in the lead, 12 minutes ahead of Coma. While that time difference is nothing when it comes to The Dakar, Barreda is in a position of control over Coma, who will have to breakaway from his Honda rival if he’s going to win this year’s race.

“I’m pleased to be here in Iquique and happy with the way that we have arrived here. I caught up with Marc quickly and we were together all the way from then on. There were some parts of fast track, some stretches were harder, some were like trial, and when we got to the dunes some of the other riders caught up with us and stayed there until the end,” said Barreda.

“It was what we had expected but you still had to be careful. The second week will see the first days in Bolivia. It’ll be tough, and also the Iquique desert will be a tricky one for the navigation. In the end, the entrance into Argentina is not likely to be easy with some stages at over 4300 metres. There is a lot of race left, but the way to do it is the one we’ve been doing up until now,” added Barreda.

Saturday marks a rest day for the Dakar Rally motorcyclists. That time in the KTM camp will surely be spent on devising a plan for Marc Coma to gain back time on Joan Barreda. It will be interesting to see if KTM takes an engine penalty, and replaces Coma’s 450cc single-cylinder motor, as they have done in the past, or if they will continue to push on as they have. In the meantime, read between the lines between Coma’s stage quote.

“I started first in the stage and I had a small crash at the beginning and this caused me to lose a bit of confidence in the first part,” explained Coma. “Then the rhythm was coming back again but the navigation was very difficult and it was very tough to find the way. Joan (Barreda) was always with me and he’s become my shadow the last three days. Bit it’s like this. Everyone is playing their cards.”

Top 10 from Stage 6 – Antofagasta to Iquique – of the 2015 Dakar Rally:

Overall Top 10 of the 2015 Dakar Rally:

Source: Dakar; Photo: Honda