2007 Dakar Rally

2007 Dakar Rally - Chris Blais

2007 Dakar Rally Stage 12 Results

Stage 12 : Ayoun El Atrous - Kayes

January 18, 2007 - Coma and Despres get lost! 

The change of scenery when arriving in Mali is huge, compared to Mauritania.

Villages, people, animals, trees and lots of tracks.  The road book already indicated many changes of directions and crossroads.  Navigation made the difference today.

That was exactly the reason Marc Coma (KTM Repsol) and Cyril Despres (KTM Gauloises), the numbers one and two in the standings, lost time today.  They made a mistake and had to make a 10 km loop to get back on the right track.  Coma finished 16th, Despres 13th.

Despres and Coma were together, trying to find the tracks.  "It was a matter to paying close attention and respecting one another.  When Marc was leading and made a mistake, I took over.  And the other way around as well.  We had to do it together today.  Overtaking was impossible in the dust."

Frans Verhoeven (KTM Gauloises) had to withdraw with two dislocated shoulders.  The Dutchman was riding the second fastest time at km 181.  He was in the same group, trying to stay close behind his leader pilot Despres. 

"I was trying to slow down Coma, to give Cyril some advantage.  And then I made a mistake and was thrown off my bike.  I landed on my shoulders.  I managed to put the left arm back in position, but the right one was too painful."

Chris Blais U.S.A. Report
After an "easy" day on yesterday's somewhat leisurely liaison Stage 11 (as if there's anything that even comes close to "leisure" in the Dakar), Chris Blais wicked it up with a wild ride, some mechanical voodoo, and good old fashioned village to village blasting.

"At about 30 clicks (kilometers) in today, the front caliper mounting bolts on Chris' bike backed out and he crashed," said Doc Edwards.  "The brake locked on and tossed him into a heap.  The good news is that Chris wasn't hurt, but he's pretty sore right now."

While the problem wasn't fully diagnosed prior to our call today, the good doctor could only speculate why Chris has again (it happened last year, too) suffered from front brake demons nor what the root causes could have been.  Like the seasoned pro that he is, Blais quickly got out a pair of cutting pliers and removed the cables and lines thus completely removing the front brake function from his Red Bull KTM 660 Rallye.

"A great thing about Chris is his ability to identify problems immediately and deal with them," Said Edwards.  "He's probably the best mechanic out here amongst the elite riders and despite him getting slammed over the bars and onto the ground at 90kph (read: over 50mph) he was still able to solve a potentially ride ending problem and continue to race.  Chris didn't wig out and lose his composure, he just kept on going without a front brake."

Fast thinking and faster action are a Blais trademark but this should have been a day to attack the front runners and eat into the 25+ minute deficit between he and 3rd place running David Casteu.  However, a loss of over 10-minutes resulted from the impromptu brake job.  Unfazed, Blais is still very much in the hunt for a podium appearance in Senegal this weekend.

Results Ayoun El Atrous - Kayes:

2007 Dakar Rally - Stage 12 Results for Top 10 Riders

1	004	ESTEVE PUJOL (ESP)	KTM	03:34:46	00:00:00
2	033	GONCALVES (POR)	HONDA	03:37:49	00:03:03
3	016	CZACHOR (POL)	KTM	03:38:50	00:04:04
4	146	CLASSEN (AFS)	KTM	03:41:59	00:07:13
5	019	PLANET (FRA)	KTM	03:42:48	00:08:02
6	006	ULLEVALSETER (NOR)	KTM	03:44:50	00:10:04
7	005	DE AZEVEDO (BRE)	KTM	03:46:54	00:12:08
8	008	CASTEU (FRA)	KTM	03:47:07	00:12:21
9	023	VINTERS (LAT)	KTM	03:48:24	00:13:38
10	020	MARCHINI (FRA)	YAMAHA	03:48:56	00:14:10

2007 Dakar Rally - Overall Results to Date for Top 10 Riders

1	001	COMA (ESP)	KTM	44:47:16	00:00:00
2	002	DESPRES (FRA)	KTM	45:40:04	00:52:48
3	008	CASTEU (FRA)	KTM	45:57:29	01:10:13
4	009	BLAIS (USA)	KTM	46:28:49	01:41:33
5	006	ULLEVALSETER (NOR)	KTM	46:52:20	02:05:04
6	004	ESTEVE PUJOL (ESP)	KTM	47:22:20	02:35:04
7	010	RODRIGUES (POR)	YAMAHA	47:44:10	02:56:54
8	023	VINTERS (LAT)	KTM	48:16:16	03:29:00
9	020	MARCHINI (FRA)	YAMAHA	48:23:51	03:36:35
10	085	BETHYS (FRA)	HONDA	48:40:40	03:53:24