Cyril Despres added to his lead over teammate Marc Coma yesterday by taking first place in Stage Five at the Dakar rally. It was the 28th stage victory of his career.
That leaves Despres with a 9:50 lead over Coma at his point, and a 46:56 lead over third-place Hélder Rodrigues. Coma and Despres have each won two stages of the rally so far, with Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez taking Stage One.
David Casteau has dropped out to seventh place after finishing 20th yesterday. Speedbrain rider Paulo Goncalves took his fifth-place position over, a move that should make Husqvarna happy.
The motorcycle special stage was shortened by 50 miles yesterday, down from 165 miles to 115, after some of the route was damaged by a storm.
You can check out more highlights of yesterday’s stage in the video below.
Here are the standings so far:
1. Cyril Despres (KTM)
2. Marc Coma (KTM)
3. Hélder Rodrigues (Yamaha)
4. Francisco Lopez (Aprilia)
5. Paulo Goncalves (Husqvarna)
