On completion of a superb battle with the title holder, Joan Barreda picked up his 4th stage victory on the 2013 edition, 1’15 ahead of Cyril Despres. In the general standings, the Frenchman took regained command ahead of his team-mate Ruben Faria, who finished the day in 8th place.

As the first to get to grips with the 357 km of the 10th stage, Cyril Despres opened the road all day along the special’s tracks, attacking throughout, but avoiding taking major risks on a terrain similar to the type encountered in endurance races, even though it was quick, technically demanding and especially physically tiring. Just behind him on the tracks, Joan Barreda again proved to be
the only rider able to compete with the title holder’s pace. At the end of the day, after a major attack at the end of the special stage, the Spaniard was victorious, 1’15 ahead of Despres and 2’44 in front of his team-mate Paulo Gonçalves. The Portuguese rider, hero of the day having repaired the machine of his team-mate Botturi, after the Italian fell, confirmed the speed of the Husqvarna bikes as they put 3 machines in the day’s top 6.

However, in the general standings, KTM are dominant because the Austrian brand has taken advantage of Botturi’s misfortunes to occupy the first 4 places of the top 5! What’s more, the title holder, Cyril Despres, regained the lead of the general standings, 1’37 ahead of his water carrier Ruben Faria, 8th today, 8’15 behind the stage winner. Still ready to spring an ambush, Chaleco Lopez remains 3rd, 13’41 behind the Frenchman and 4’40 ahead of Slovakian Ivan Jakes. Lastly, Alessandro Botturi, the leading Husqvarna rider in the general standings, now occupies fifth place, 24’25 behind the rally leader and 9’54 in front of sixth placed Helder Rodrigues, the best placed Honda rider.

KTM factory riders Marc Coma and Cyril Despres continued their dominance of the Dakar 2012 on Wednesday finishing second and third in Stage 10. Spanish rider Joan Barreda took his first career stage victory, breaking the stage victory run by the two KTM rivals who continue to battle it out for the overall lead. They are both vying for their fourth Dakar Rally title.

Despres sprang back from adversity on Tuesday after getting stuck in a mud hole on Monday to take his third stage victory in Stage Nine. He opened the road today as riders tackled more than their fair share of sand in Chile’s coastal deserts on the way from Iquique to Arica right on the Chilean-Peruvian border.

In this increasingly tight two-way battle it was Coma who prevailed on Wednesday and he finished one minute 32 seconds behind the leader. Despres, who expended a great deal of energy on Tuesday in his passionate ride to win Stage Nine, sacrificed some valuable time. He now leads the overall standings for this 9,000 km race from Mar del Plata on the Atlantic coast of Argentina to Peru on the Pacific Coast by just 21 seconds.

Stage 10 sent riders on 317 km of liaison sections and a timed special of 377 km. They started in the sand dunes then would up the day again dealing with the dreaded fesh-fesh, the power-fine dust feared by all.

Navigation was again an issue for the riders and even Despres and Coma were reported to have made a small detour at the beginning of the timed special at the 161 km mark. They were not the only ones to fall into navigation traps as the day progressed and both are very aware that such a slip can cost them the title. Among riders to head north instead of northeast at the 238 km mark were KTM support riders Rubin Faria and Joan Pedrero and KTM riders Felipe Zanol and Gerard Farres Guell. As Coma and Despres fight it out for what would be KTM’s eleventh Dakar, the Spanish rider said at the end of the stage that the race will now “hinge on the smallest of margins”.

“It’s the tone that’s been set for the rally and I think we’ll keep on battling until the end. We keep trying to make the difference all the time and the entry into Peru will be decisive. The race will hinge on the smallest of margins. When the performance level is equivalent with the same team and the same bike, it’s very difficult, both for him (Despres) and for me. But when it comes to the crunch, it will be entirely up to either one rider or the other.”

Despres agreed saying: “At this level, every second counts. It’s a scenario that I thought might happen, so I’m not surprised. I’m just happy to have got through another day. In any case, staying out in front for the whole 377 km while riding flat out isn’t easy. If I finish in his (Coma’s) dust or him in mine, it doesn’t change that much.”

While Despres and Coma have been the dominant Dakar riders since the world’s toughest rally moved to South America in 2009, tomorrow they will enter new territory. The fourth South America edition of the Dakar moves into a third country, Peru. They now have to negotiate their way through the region of the famous Nazcar Lines territory and on to the finish at Lima.

Stage 11 is to be split into two times sections and while riders will be permitted to work on their machines at the half way mark, their support crews will not be able to assist them. Organizers say this this move was to inspire the “The Spirit of the Dakar” among competitors, forcing them to share tools and advice on mechanical matters. This maintenance method was also deployed in Morocco during the 2007 Dakar.

Results Stage 10

1, Joan Barreda Bort, Spain, 4 hours 18:43

2, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM at 1 minutes 32

3, Cyril Despres, France, KTM at 3:39

4, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha at 5:16

5, Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM at 8:48

Other KTM

6, Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM at 15:30

7, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM at 10:34

10, Rubin Faria, Portugal, KTM at 15:30

11, Alessandro Botturi, Italy, KTM at 17:12

13, Gerard Farres Guell, Spain, KTM at 20:55

14, Felipe Zanol, Brazil, KTM at 24:30

15, Henk Knuiman, Netherlands, KTM at 33:06

17, Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM at 34:12

18, Daryl Curtis, South Africa, KTM at 35:09

25, Johnny Aubert, France, KTM at 40:25

Overall Results after Stage Ten

1, Cyril Despres, France, KTM, 33 hours 7 minutes 39 seconds (15 minutes penalty)

2, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM at 21 seconds (15 minutes penalty)

3, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha at 45:56

4, Jordi Viladoms, Spain, KTM at 1:18:52

5, Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM 1:24:38