Dutch Yamaha Netherlands Verhoeven Team rider Frans Verhoeven took another step closer to the top ten riders today, moving two places up the overall standings to 13th. The tenth stage of the Dakar Rally saw Verhoeven tackling a very tight and twisty special, a 357km run from Cordoba to La Rioja. The Dutch rider kept a good pace whilst trying to avoid dizziness from the incredible number of tight turns on the course, completing the day’s stage in tenth place. The result brings him to a 59 minute gap to first place.
Previous Rally leader Olivier Pain has struggled over the last two days to repeat his form of prior to the rest day, the Yamaha France rider wrapping up today’s stage in 22nd place to drop to ninth in the overall standings, 47 minutes from first. Fellow Frenchman and Team Casteu Yamaha Racing France rider David Casteu’s Dakar came to a disappointing end yesterday after a collision with a cow during the stage. Casteu received a shoulder injury and also damage to the bike. He was able to continue after having his shoulder strapped however damage to the fuel tank caused by the crash caused a loss of fuel, eventually resulting in a forced retirement some 30km from the end of the stage.
Yamaha Racing Argentina rider Marcos Patronelli continues to hold a comfortable lead of over an hour in the standings. Patronelli wrapped up today’s tenth stage in second place, just one minute from the front, denying the competition any chance to gain a serious time advantage.
“You had to be very careful and concentrate all the time today,” commented Frans Verhoeven. “There were thousands of turns, Nasty short ones, hairpins and very tight turns that kept on going. It was like a rollercoaster. It made me dizzy! I knew I had to ride clean and fast, but not too fast. I overtook Johnny Campbell, but let Kurt Caselli pass me as we can ride well together. We closed in on Duclos and Svitko before the refueling. I crossed the river at one point and it looked nice and even but almost at the other side there was a hole. Everything got wet from my suit up to my glasses.”
2013 Dakar Rally Stage 10 Results
Cordoba to La Rioja: total distance 636 km – timed special 357 km
1. Joan Barreda, ESP (Husq) 4:43:14
2. Cyril Despres, FRA (KTM) 4:44:29
3. Paulo Goncalves, PRT (Husq) 4:45:58
4. Joan Pedrero, ESP (KTM) 4:47:41
5. Kurt Caselli, USA (KTM) 4:50:10
6. Ivan Jakes, SVK (KTM) 4:51:17
7. Alessandro Botturi, ITA (Husq) 4:51:19
8. Ruben Faria, PRT (KTM) 4:51:29
9. Helder Rodrigues, PRT (Honda) 4:52:48
10. Frans Verhoeven, NLD (Yamaha) 4:53:38
12. Michael Metge, FRA (Yamaha) 4:54:13
23. Olivier Pain, FRA (Yamaha) 5:08:08
2013 Dakar Rally Overall Standings after Stage 10:
1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 30:47:04
2. Ruben Faria (KTM) 30:48:41
3. Chaleco Lopez (KTM) 31:00:45
4. Ivan Jakes (KTM) 31:05:25
5. Alessandro Botturi (Husq) 31:11:29
6. Helder Rodrigues (Honda) 31:21:23
7. Stefan Svitko (KTM) 31:26:26
8. Joan Pedrero (KTM) 31:27:22
9. Oliver Pain (Yamaha) 31:34:06
10. Israel Esquerre (Honda) 31:34:10
13. Frans Verhoeven (Yamaha) 31:46:49
20. Michael Metge (Yamaha) 32:50:06
