2007 Dakar Rally

2007 Dakar Rally Stage 3 - Chris Blais, U.S.A. Photo: J. van Oers

2007 Dakar Rally Stage 3 Results

Stage 3: Nador - Er Rachidia

January 8, 2007 - KTM Team Report
Today's stage was a serious one, with navigation as the major factor for the 2007 Rally's first time on African soil.

Isidre Esteve (KTM Gauloises) and Marc Coma (KTM Repsol) proved to be excellent navigators: they did not make a mistake.

Coma won the special, Esteve took the lead in the general standings.  Esteve was happy with the lead, but even more with the fact that he had to open the piste and remained faultless.  "When you are the first to start, there is no track at all.  You are all by yourself concerning finding the right way.  I’m really happy I could manage that.  It means more to me than getting the first place in the standings."

Coma started as fifth this morning in Nador and could catch the others in front of him quite easily.  "It was a tough stage, with many holes and lots of stones.  I’m satisfied with the result, but tomorrow is more important.  We will have to ride very concentrated and keep the bike in one piece, since tomorrow is a marathon stage for the bikes, without assistance."

Less happy was Cyril Despres (KTM Gauloises).  The Frenchman got into trouble on km 170 in the special.  His gearbox got stuck in first gear and thus he had to try to reach the finish 82 km ahead in first gear.  He finished in 21st position.  Despres was surprising positive.  "I’m not happy, but it is still a long way to Dakar."

Teammate Frans Verhoeven pushed and pulled Despres from the finish of the stage to the bivouac, together with KTM Red Bull-rider Chris Blais.  The Dutchman had some trouble himself as well, as his gearshift broke.  "I could not repair that and had to ride in second gear for the last 40 km."  Verhoeven came in as ninth.

Chris Blais - U.S.A.
Meanwhile, Chris Blais (USA) took second place in Stage 3 and is in 5th place in the overall standings so far.

After a day of disappointments yesterday including engine maladies and 11 minutes of down time, Chris Blais and his big blue #9 Red Bull 660 KTM wasted no time launching off the boat at Nador, Morrocco and making his 3rd return to African soil a memorable affair. 

With eye-of-the-tiger focus, Blais set for himself a blistering pace, blowing by scores of riders as if they were trail riding.  Make no doubt about it, this soon to be 3-time Dakar veteran isn't here to ride with or follow anyone in 2007 - his sights are set for stage wins and a podium finish on the shores of Lac Rose a couple weeks from now.

Here's what the sat-phone call from Dr. Johnathan Edwards sounded like:  "Chris went from 81st at the start to 15th at the end of the stage.  Despite the very dusty conditions, and a minor crash at end of the special, Chris rode very well and he really kicked (butt)!  It's been a lot of work but Matt (Spencer, Blais' technician) and I are handling it and we're all in pretty good spirits."

Additional comments from Doc Edwards about other American hopefuls:

#232 Casey McCoy (Team Rally Panamerica) is riding his own race and getting accustomed to his first African rally.  A badly broken leg suffered in pre-Dakar testing a couple of years back delayed his entry into the world's toughest race but the fast and friendly Mammoth Mountain, California ski resort general manager is every bit a world class off-road racer.  According to Doc Edwards, "Casey's leg is hurting him after three days on the bike, but he's still hanging tough."

#25 Jonah Street (Team Rally Panamerica) is logging another awesome performance in this, his 2nd Dakar.  After three days of throttle twisting, Street finds himself 4th overall, just under 7min behind overall leader, #4 Esteve Pujol.

Results Stage 3 - Nador-Er Rachidia: