The 49-year-old was found dead overnight after the fourth stage of the gruelling spectacle which is taking place for the first time in South America.
Today's course was 763 km total and included some grueling terrain. Fortunately, the Hummer H3 is built for grueling terrain and Robby was able to make up some time. Ramses said he even sat in the lead for a bit.
Eric Vigouroux is still on the course with a couple hundred kilometers left to go.
Ramses thinks they are staying in a hotel tonight (versus on the ground in a tent) so he hopes to find a strong internet connection. If that happens, we should see pictures and more details by late tonight.
From all of us here at Toyo Tires, thanks for following Ramses' Rally Journal! Go Team Dakar USA!
20:18 - Car 302 - Al-Attiyah is the new leader of the general standings!
Arrived 5’23" after today’s stage winner, Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah (BMW) made the most of the miseries of Carlos Sainz (VW) in the last set of dunes to get to the top of the general standings. The Spanish VW driver arrived at the end of the special stage 15’42" after the day’s winner and 10’19 after the Qatari.
20:15 - Car 305 - Special stage victory for De Villiers
The first 9 cars have now reached the end of the day’s special stage and South-Africa’s Giniel De Villiers (VW) is the provisional winner of the 5th stage, 2’18" ahead of his German team mate Dieter Depping (VW) and 4’12" ahead of US driver Robby Gordon (Hummer).
20:04 - Quad 258 - Gonzalez is making the best of Declerck’s bad luck
As the 3 first contenders have now passed CP2, Spain’s Joan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) checked in the lead, 5’25" ahead of Czech driver Josef Machacek (Yamaha) and 23’52" ahead of the leader in the general standings, Christophe Declerck (Yamaha). In the lead since the beginning of the special stage this morning, the leader in the general standings endured a flat tyre between both CPs.
19:51 - Car The sand dunes are giving the leaders a hard time
As battle is raging in the last sand dunes of this fifth special stage, the leader in the general standings, Spain’s Carlos Sainz (VW) made a driving mistake and tore off his front hood. Same situation but for the rear hood for Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi). However, both drivers were able to continue the race.
19:42 - Truck 506 - Kabirov, provisional leader at CP2
As the first 4 trucks have now passed CP2, Russia’s Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) checked in the lead, 11" ahead of general standings leader, Dutchman Gerard De Rooy (Ginaf), and 11’48" ahead of his team mate and countryman Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz).
19:17 - Bike 15 - Verhoeven, second fastest time of the day
As the first 10 bikes have now reached the end of the day’s special stage, it is now Dutchman Frans Verhoeven (KTM) who finishes with the second fastest time 5’53" behind the winner of the day, US rider Jonah Street (KTM), but 1’41" ahead of Chile’s Francisco Lopez (KTM), who is now third in the stage standings.
18:49 - Bike 2 - Marc Coma looses a quarter of an hour
Timed at 6h56’51", the leader in the general standings, Spanish biker Marc Coma (KTM) a lost 15’45" on today’s winner, Jonah Street (KTM). As for Cyril Despres (KTM), he also lost 14’46" on the young American rider.
The car category put on a great show on this very versatile special stage where all driving skills had the opportunity of being expressed by the drivers. Dieter Depping was the first to make his name known. He had a 23" lead at CP1 where he was ahead of Stéphane Peterhansel who was making a come-back and - using one his proven techniques - was returning center stage of the race after just a few days in the rally raid.
The Depping-Peterhansel duo was making a first gap of 1’50" and 2’07" on the cars of Nasser Al-Attiyah, Mark Miller and Carlos Sainz. Then came a change in the configuration of the race between both check points as the Madrid and Qatari leaders in the general standings picked up their personal fight where they had left it leaving their adversaries far behind. The gap developed really quickly between them and Miller, De Villiers and the three Mitsubishis together. But the situation changed yet again and it is German driver Dieter Depping who ended up surprising everyone by being first to cross CP2 with a 24" lead over the title holder, whilst Al-Attiyah was timed with a 2’33" lead on Sainz.
The last events of the day were offered by the first sand dunes on this edition of the Dakar. 20 kilometers of sand where the leaders in the car category both broke their machines. De Villiers came out first of this boxing match and won the stage in front of Depping and Gordon, while Al-Attiyah was taking the lead in the general standings in front of De Villiers and relegated Carlos Sainz in third position, 6’33" behind.
The duel between Al-Attiyah and Sainz turned to the benefit of the Qatari who is the new leader in the car general standings.
Once again, the race in Stage 5 was a matter of tyres. Coma and Despres both had to stop to change tubes. American rider Jonah Street did not have the same problem and ends up with his very first stage victory on a Dakar special stage.The tide seems to have turned slightly in the bike race of this 2009 Dakar. Spared by tyre problems, Marc Coma, the winner of the 2006 edition of the rally raid, ran flat at km 45 which forced him to stop for a good 20 min. This is when the pursuit started and that was great news for Cyril Despres… until right after the first CP (km 230) where the Frenchman had caught back 15’ from his Spanish rival. But the curse of the tyre tubes was going to hit again on the title holder. Forced - in turn - to organize an emergency pit stop, Despres lost his head start. Worse! He even lost an additional 7 min over Coma at the following CP (km 422).
After starting third in the early hours of the morning, Jonah Street once again demonstrated flawlesness and steadiness. Four times in the top ten since the start of this year’s edition of the Dakar, the American rider managed to both preserve his tyres and keep up the pace with the best in the race. Being the best to handle the first sand dunes in the finish, Street ended up with a 5’53" lead over Frans Verhoeven and a 7’34" lead over Francisco Lopez. In the duel between Despres and Coma, it is the first one who managed to steel back a tiny little minute to the Catalan rider.
In the general standings, Marc Coma, who ends the stage in 7th position, is loosing ground from the 42’ lead he had yesterday over a surprising Street, he only has 27’ left. David Frétigné, third of today’s stage, gets closer to the leader and is now at 39’09" of the leader.
The Pampa Battle is still raging in the truck category. This time, it is Firdaus Kabirov who won the stage achieving here his 26th stage victory in the Dakar and - hence - stealing the second place in the general standings to the Czar, Vladimir Chagin. Gerard de Rooy is still resisting the endless assaults of the Kamaz trucks. De Rooy’s third place at the finish in San Rafael, 12’28" from the winner, allows the driver to remain the general standings leader but his lead on the new number two is only of 13".
Stage 5 of Dakar 2009 between Neuquen and San Rafael was once again a matter of tyres with Marc Coma, race leader, and Cyril Despres, defending bike champion, both suffering trouble with their tubes.
However Jonah Street, American rider, did not have any such problems and ended up with his very first victory on a Dakar special stage.
Stage 4 Summary
15:21 - Car Summary of stage 4
Pending validation of the results, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW) picked up his 2nd stage victory of the rally, his 11th on the Dakar, 6 short seconds only in front of his main rival since the start of the event, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (BMW), and 2.24 in front of Frenchman Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi). In the general standings, the VW-BMW duel continues: “El Matador” Sainz holds onto the lead and is now 3.46 ahead of the Qatari. The Wolfsburg based constructor has two Touaregs on the provisional podium, because 3rd place is still occupied by South African Giniel De Villiers (VW), now 11.33 behind Sainz. In the Open category, Robby Gordon (Hummer) pulled off another stage victory, with the day’s 10th best time. Lastly, in the Production category, once again the category leader in the general standings, Japan’s Jun Mitsuhashi (Toyota), was victorious.
15:19 - Truck Summary of stage 4
Pending validation of the results, Dutchman Gerard de Rooy (Ginaf) picked up his 2nd stage victory of this 31st Dakar, 46" ahead of five times winner of the Dakar, Russian Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz), and 4.55 in front of “the Tsar’s” team-mate and countryman Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz). As a result, in the general standings, Gérard De Rooy (Ginaf) is still in the lead ahead of the three Kamaz trucks belonging to Russia’s Chagin, 2nd placed 10.14 behind, Kabirov, 3rd placed 12.41 behind, and Mardeev, 4th placed 46.58 behind.
15:18 - Bike Summary of stage 4
Pending validation of the results, Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM) picked up his 3rd stage victory and 7th on the Dakar by finishing this 4th day 1.17 ahead of Frenchman Cyril Despres (KTM), who rode an excellent race having started in 48th place this morning. 3rd place went to American Jonah Street (KTM). As a result, in the general standings, Coma now has a lead of 42.57 over Street, the new 2nd placed rider and leader of the marathon category, and 43.42 over Frenchman David Frétigné (Yamaha), 3rd placed and leader of the 450cc category. As regards Cyril Despres (KTM), he is now 11th in the general standings.
15:17 - Quad Summary of stage 4
Pending validation of the results, Spaniard Joan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) won the 4th stage, his first success on the Dakar, 16.18 ahead of France’s Christophe Declerck (Yamaha) and 18.59 in front of another Frenchman: Eric Carlini (Polaris). In the general standings, Christophe Declerck still holds a solid lead, 31.27 ahead of the day’s winner, Gonzalez, the new 2nd placed rider, and 49.34 in front of Czech Josef Machacek (Yamaha).
He reported that his #524 MAN Assistance truck was out of the DAKAR Rally after a harrowing crash that has rendered the MAN diesel assistance race truck with heavy damage that has left them no other option than to quit the race. Geviss reported that he has been working on the race truck for the past 24 hours hoping to temporarily fix the truck enough to limp back to Buenos Aires along the highway. The team will have to travel some 750 miles over the highways back to massive city of Buenos Aires.
January 6, 2009 (13:33 Quad) - #254 - With the first three quads having finished this 4th special stage, Spaniard Joan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) came first, winning his first special stage in the event, 16.18 ahead of Frenchman Christophe Declerck (Yamaha), who, nonetheless, is still leader of the general standings.
13:27 - Car #303 - Provisional 3rd place for Alphand
Now that the first 10 cars have finished this 4th special stage, Frenchman Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi) came home in 3rd position, 1.17 behind the day’s winner, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW).
13:22 - Truck #505 - De Rooy opens up the lead...
Now that the first 10 trucks have completed 290 km of the day’s special stage, Dutchman Gerard De Rooy (Ginaf) leads, 1.53 ahead of Russian Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) and 2.24 in front of “the Tsar’s” team-mate and countryman Kabirov (Kamaz).
#26 - Street is in provisional 2nd place
Now that the first six bikes have finished this fourth special stage, American Jonah Street (KTM) is in 2nd position, 1.21 behind the provisional winner Marc Coma (KTM), but 4.31 in front of Frenchman David Frétigné (Yamaha), who is in 3rd place.
January 8, 2009 12:00 AM (DAKAR RALLY LOCAL TIME) The Dakar Rally was in mourning on Wednesday with the news that Pascal Terry, French motorcyclist, had been found dead while competing in this year's race.
