Marc Coma continues to dominate in his triumphant return to Dakar, with another stage win yesterday – his third so far in 2014.
Cyril Despres wasn’t far behind in second, and moved to within 43 seconds of Helder Rodrigues in the overall standings. Olivier Pain finished third on his Yamaha.
While Coma seems to have a chokehold on first, barring any crashes or catastrophic breakdowns, and Barreda Bort seems to have a similar lock on second, the battle for third place overall is quite likely to be determined in the final stage. There are only roughly 37 minutes between Jordi Viladoms (currently the third place holder) and sixth-place Cyril Despres.
Rodrigues (fourth) and Pain (fifth) are also fully capable of unseating Viladoms, and it’s possible spectators will see a very thrilling finale, with racers pulling out all the stops to make the podium. Pain would certainly like to beat his Yamaha teammate and show he’s capable of holding down a spot at Dakar’s forefront.
See the day’s official video summary below.
