TEAM HRC’s Joan Barreda finished the eighth stage of the Rally Dakar 2014 in second place. Hélder Rodrigues crossed the finish-line in fourth, and Laia Sanz continues her run of excellent performances on the Honda CRF450 RALLY pre-production model.
The Dakar said goodbye to an accommodating and vibrant Bolivia, and has moved on to Chile. Today saw the second leg of the marathon stage, in the area of Salar de Uyuni, which had been reduced in length by some twelve kilometres.
Joan Barreda, yesterday’s winner, set about cutting down the distance with the overall race leader, opening the way in the special, in a solitary ride in which we clocked up a total time of 2’10”, second only to Cyril Despres. Barreda has clawed back four seconds from Marc Coma in the overall standings.
Hélder Rodrigues, looking far more at ease in this stage, finished fourth some 6’44” behind the stage winner, and Javier Pizzolito ended the race in eighteenth.
Honda Argentina Rally Team’s accumulation of good stage results continues with Laia Sanz always in the top twenty at the various time checks, finishing fifteenth at the end of the day. Team-mate Pablo ‘Cacha’ Rodríguez finished in the top fifty.
Joan Barreda – 2nd – +2’10
It was a really long special today and I’m very pleased with the marathon. I was ahead, opening the way, pushing hard and forcing the pace to try and cause the others to make mistakes. It hasn’t happened yet, but we have done really well with a couple of great stages and I’m very satisfied with a job well done.
Helder Rodrigues – 4th – +6’44
It was a good stage for me and I’ve picked up a few minutes on my nearest rivals. My goal is to fight for a place on the podium, that’s 45 minutes away, which is quite a lot, but I’m determined to give my all to achieve it.
Classifications Stage 8
1 Cyril Despres 05:23’20 FRA YAMAHA Yamaha Racing
2 Joan Barreda +02’09 ESP HONDA TEAM HRC
3 Marc Coma +02’15 ESP KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
4 Helder Rodrigues +06’38 POR HONDA TEAM HRC
5 Olivier Pain +10’40 FRA YAMAHA Yamaha Racing
6 Mickael Metge +12’58 FRA YAMAHA Yamaha Racing
7 Riian Van Niekerk +13’15 SAF KTM Brother Link KTM Rally Factory
8 Daniel Gouet +13’23 CHI HONDA Tamarugal Honda Racing XC Rally Team
9 Kuba Przygonski +13’29 POL KTM KTM Rally Factory
10 Jordi Viladoms +13’34 ESP KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
General standings after Stage 8
1 Marc Coma 36:06’19 ESP KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
2 Joan Barreda +38’08 ESP HONDA TEAM HRC
3 Jordi Viladoms +01:27’22 ESP KTM KTM Red Bull Rally Factory
4 Alain Duclos +01’49’09 FRA SHERCO Sherco Rally Factory
5 Jeremias Israel +01’52’05 CHL SPEEDBRAIN Team Speedbrain
6 Olivier Pain +01:59’07 FRA YAMAHA Yamaha Racing
7 Kuba Przygonski +02:06’06 POL KTM KTM Rally Factory
8 Helder Rodrigues +02:12’41 POR HONDA TEAM HRC
9 Cyril Despres +02:23’58 FRA YAMAHA Yamaha Racing
10 Daniel Gouet +02:38’51 CHI HONDA Tamarugal Honda Racing XC Rall