Graham King reviews and rounds up the 2014 Dakar Rally
Week 2 of the Dakar from Salta, Argentina to Valparaiso, Chile via the Andes mountains and the Atacama desert, saw one man assert his dominance on the rally.
Overall leader after Stage 6: Marc Coma (KTM) Read the Rest Day Update here
Week 2 stage winners:
Stage 7: Joan Barreda Bort (Honda)
Stage 8: Cyril Despres (Yamaha)
Stage 9: Marc Coma (KTM)
Stage 10: Barreda
Stage 11: Coma
Stage 12: Despres
Stage 13: Barreda
Throughout the second week of the Dakar Rally, second-placed man Joan Barreda Bort did all he could to overcome his deficit to leader Marc Coma. But despite adding three more stage wins to his account (for a total of five), there was nothing he could to stop Coma edging ahead.
On Stage 12 the wheels almost literally came off Barreda's challenge when he broke the steering on his Honda. He struggled to finish the stage several hours behind the winner, Cyril Despres. Despite winning the short final stage, Barreda could only salvage seventh overall, almost three hours behind the winner.
Five-time winner Cyril Despres managed a recovery of sorts from a first week blighted by endless problems on his unproven Yamaha. Having been outside the top ten on the rest day, he set three fastest times to finish fourth overall, albeit over two hours behind.
Barreda's trouble left Coma nearly two hours clear of Jordi Viladoms who had held third all week having displaced Alain Duclos on Stage 7. Viladoms couldn't afford to be complacent about his position however, with only a slim margin over Oliver Pain. But Pain couldn't do quite enough, so the order remained unchanged at the finish.
That left Coma to cruise to his fourth Dakar triumph, continuing KTM's unbroken run of victories that stretches all the way back to 2001.
Top 10 runners after Stage 13:
1. Marc Coma - KTM Red Bull Rally Factory Team KTM 450 Rally Rep - 54h50m53s
2. Jordi Viladoms - KTM Red Bull Rally Factory Team KTM 450 Rally Rep - +1h52m27s
3. Olivier Pain - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Yamaha YZF450 Rally - +2h00m03s
4. Cyril Despres - Yamaha Factory Racing Team Yamaha YZF450 Rally - +2h05m38s
5. Helder Rodrigues - HRC Rally Honda CRF450 Rally - +2h11m09s
6. Kuba Przygonski - Orlen KTM Rally Factory Team KTM 450 Rally Rep - +2h31m46s
7. Joan Barreda Bort - HRC Rally Honda CRF450 Rally - +2h54m01s
8. Daniel Gouet - Tamarugal XC Rally Team - Honda CRF450 Rally - +3h10m34s
9. Stefan Svitko - Oraving Slovnaft Team KTM 450 Rally Rep - +3h50m10s
10. David Casteu - Team Casteu KTM 450 Rally - +3h58m09s