2007 Dakar Rally Stage 9 Results

Stage 9 : Tichit - Nema

January 15, 2007 - KTM Team Report

Todays stage was - again - a difficult one - 494 km from Tichit to Nema in Mauritania.

Extremely soft sand, technically and physically demanding, was the major feature in a virtually empty, inhospitable landscape.

Due to the wind, the existing tracks were hidden under the sand.  The riders had to be very careful in every possible way.

Not only for themselves, but also for their bikes, since this stage was the second half of a marathon stage.  Without proper assistance in Tichit, keeping man and machine in one piece was the secret of getting to the finish in Nema.

Given the circumstances it wasn't too surprising that it was a privateer who took victory on the stage, with Latvian Janis Vinters finishing 7.31 ahead of Cyril Despres (KTM Gauloises) and 7.35 ahead of Marc Coma (KTM Repsol).

Isidre Esteve (KTM Gauloises), who lost two hours Sunday due to a gearbox problem, had to start today's race in 37th place and finally finished eighth, just behind team mate David Casteu.

For Giovanni Sala (KTM Repsol) and Frans Verhoeven (KTM Gauloises) today didn't go at all according to plan. Sala had a nasty crash just after CP2 and had to be taken to hospital with a broken shoulder, while Frans Verhoeven dropped a long way from his 6th place overall this morning.  The Dutchman lost over five hours due to a broken gearbox.

Chris Blais - U.S.A.
IN HIS OWN WORDS: Chris Blais via satellite phone from Monday's Stage 9 bivouac in Nema, Mauritania.  Still on the gas after many days of punishment, he finished 6th today and is now 4th overall.  Photo J. Van Oers.

"After 9 stages I'm still here, I still feel pretty good, and I have to agree that as the promoters advertised things have gotten serious.  Yesterday (stage #8) was definitely the longest and most difficult day so far.  Very early yesterday I got stuck 3-times and really found it tough to dig myself out.  By kilometer 30 I thought I'd used up everything I had but somehow I got my act together and pushed on.  Those sand dunes were really kicking my ass but even in spite of losing a little time it still turned out to be a pretty good day for me.

"Fortunately I haven't had to suffer like many of the other guys have.  Marc Coma (Respol KTM #1) went down in the rocks hard and banged himself up and that was true for some of the other fast guys, too.  There have been a lot of mechanical breakdowns and each day more riders are forced to drop out.  Today Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM #2) crashed and had trouble with his navigation gear from the start.

NOTE: As it turns out, Despres had to navigate manually scrolling his road book throughout today's special test section.  Here's how Despres described it: "Yesterday (Sunday) during the assistance evening, I must have lost my mechanical skills. This morning (Monday) at the start of the special stage, there was a wire loose in the road book.  I had to scroll through it manually all day. It's as if I had to twist candy-frost on a stick for 7 hours straight at a fun fair.  So I had to pay even closer attention.  Additionally, being physically tired, I had to be extra focused!

Blais:  "Today (Monday, 1/15/07) was a good day.  I rode better than yesterday but I crashed like an idiot when reaching to get a drink of water.  I should have been paying better attention but I'm ok -- a little sore now, sitting here talking to you on the phone, but when I'm on the bike and racing I don't have any problems.  Matt (Spencer) has been doing an awesome job on my bike and equipment and the Doc (Dr. Johnathan Edwards) is all over the place making sure that I'm taken care of and ready to go for the next stage.  We really have a great team."

Results Tichit - Nema :

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