Yamaha riders David Casteau and Olivier Pain took first and second place respectively in yesterday’s Dakar racing.
Riders put down 411 kilometres yesterday, crossing the border from Peru to Chile. The route had plenty of rocky terrain, and very little sand compared to previous days in the schedule. The day’s racing included a 136-km timed special.
Olivier Pain is now in first place overall, with Casteau in second and Cyril Despres in third. Ruben Faria and Jodi Villadoms (both on KTMs) round out fourth and fifth positions overall.
Joan Pedrero, was third in yesterday’s racing (for KTM), and Alessandro Botturi was fourth (Husqvarna). Despres finished fifth in yesterday’s racing.
Canadian Patrick Beaule was in 95th position in the scratch rankings this morning.
You can see video highlights of the day’s racing here.
And, here’s some video footage of Canadian Don Hatton and former Canadian Andrew Scott. Hatton is without a doubt the unluckiest man to ever race at Dakar. The video is a great look at their struggle to stay in the race in face of adversity.
En anglaise SVP?
A French film crew shot it. As you can see, Hatton speaks in English, but I think this is for a French TV station. It’s all we have.