The Yamaha Factory Racing Rally Team Yamalube riders enjoyed a much shorter day today, completing the third stage of the 2015 Dakar, a relatively short special. The first half of the 220 km route was a high-speed thrill ride over fast ‘piste’ while the second half was a more technical journey. The Factory riders had an easier time than yesterday with Alessandro Botturi finishing 14th followed by Michael Metge in 16th and Olivier Pain ending the day in 21st place.
Best placed Yamaha was once again Juan Pedrero’s machine, finishing in 10th place. The day’s results put Pedrero in 10th overall, Metge in 17th, Boturri in 18th and Pain in 19th place.
Yamaha Netherlands Verhoeven Team’s Robert van Pelt didn’t start this morning after being helicoptered out of yesterday’s special after a crash, however his teammate Frans Verhoeven is still in the game and finished 32nd.
The riders are now taking a well-earned rest to ready themselves for tomorrow’s stage. Marked by its long liaison of 594 km and large difference in altitude, the route will take riders to an altitude of 4,800m. The thin, cold air will make for demanding riding conditions in the Atacama Desert and the dunes and basins of Copiapo.
Michael Metge
Michael Metge 16th / 07’51 , 17th overall / 35’22
“The piste at the start of the special had just been remade and that was great fun to ride. Then after that we went into a ‘rio’ (dry river) which was more complicated. We made some changes to the chassis set up last night. That improved the bike a little and we need to keep working in that direction.”
Alessandro Botturi
14th / 06’16, 18th overall / 35’28
“It went a little bit better today, both for myself physically and technically with the bike. I must admit I didn’t feel great this morning when I got up after yesterday’s crash but ‘fortunately’ we had a long liaison before the start of the special to fully wake up. The special itself was OK but dust was a big problem. ‘Thank you’ both to Mika (Metge) and Laia (Sanz) who both moved over straight away when they saw that I was behind them.”
Olivier Pain
21st / 11’35, 19th overall / 37’54
“Over the fast terrain at the beginning of the rally, I was able to find a good rhythm on the bike. Then after the CP we got into more rocky terrain, in a rio and some off-piste, and it was harder work. The team is working hard to improve the bike in these kind of conditions and there was definitely some improvement today. Tomorrow we have a very long liaison of 594 kilometres to get across the Andes into Chile. We’re going to climb up to almost 5000 metres, so it will be very cold and the air will be very thin. Once we’ve negotiated that we have a quite tough 315 km special to take us all the way to Copiapo. I’m hoping that there will be more navigation than we’ve had up until now and that it will allow me to pull back some time.”
Juan Pedrero
10th / 05’21, 10th overall /23’02
“I was hoping to attack today but unfortunately the high altitude at the start of the special had a very negative effect on my top speed – I could only manage 145 kph. At the CP I was down in 20th place! Then after the CP, in the technical terrain, I was able to ride harder and pulled back 10 places to finish 10th which is also my overall position this evening.”
Frans Verhoeven
32nd / 22’58, 29th overall / 1:18’13
“Yesterday Robert (van Pelt) crashed in the special, the bike got so hot that the fuel started boiling. He ran out of water and eventually became so exhausted that he had to be evacuated by helicopter. It is the classic Dakar downward spiral… As for myself, I’m OK but obviously very disappointed to see my teammate being forced out of the race so early.”
You can follow Yamaha’s progress in the Dakar Rally HERE .
Dakar Rally 2015 Stage 03: San Juan to Chilecito
1. Matthias Walkner, AUT (KTM) 02:34:28
2. Marc Coma, ESP (KTM) 02:35:08
3. Joan Barreda Bort, ESP (Honda) 02:36:21
4. Toby Price, AUS (KTM) 02:37:13
5. Paulo Gonçalves, PRT (Honda) 02:37:17
6. Alain Duclos, FRA (Sherco TVS) 02:37:39
7. Ruben Faria, PRT (KTM) 02:37:54
8. Jeremias Israel Esquerre, CHL (Honda) 02:38:30
9. Jordi Viladoms, ESP (KTM) 02:39:04
10. Juan Pedrero Garcia, ESP (Yamaha) 02:39:49
11. Sam Sunderland, GBR (KTM) 02:39:51
12. Pablo Quintanilla, CHL (KTM) 02:40:07
13. Stefan Svitko, SVK (KTM) 02:40:43
14. Alessandro Botturi, ITA (Yamaha) 02:40:44
15. Helder Rodrigues, PRT (Honda) 02:41:29
16. Michael Metge, FRA (Yamaha) 02:42:19
21. Oliver Pain, FRA (Yamaha) 02:46:03
32. Frans Verhoeven, NLD (Yamaha) 02:57:26
Dakar Rally 2015: Overall Ranking
1. Joan Barreda Bort, ESP (Honda) 09:43:05
2. Paulo Gonçalves, PRT (Honda) 09:48:38
3. Matthias Walkner, AUT (KTM) 09:53:38
4. Marc Coma, ESP (KTM) 09:53:55
5. Ruben Faria, PRT (KTM) 09:55:15
6. Toby Price, AUS (KTM) 09:55:29
7. Jordi Viladoms, ESP (KTM) 09:57:12
8. Jeremias Israel Esquerre, CHL (Honda) 10:01:38
9. Helder Rodrigues, PRT (Honda) 10:01:39
10. Juan Pedrero Garcia, ESP (Yamaha) 10:06:07
11. Alain Duclos, FRA (Sherco TVS) 10:06:45
12. Stefan Svitko, SVK (KTM) 10:09:41
13. Pablo Quintanilla, CHL (KTM) 10:10:58
14. David Casteu, FRA (KTM) 10:15:21
15. Riaan Van Niekerk, ZAF (KTM) 10:17:16
17. Michael Metge, FRA (Yamaha) 10:18:27
18. Alessandro Botturi, ITA (Yamaha) 10:18:33
19. Oliver Pain, FRA (Yamaha) 10:20:59
29. Frans Verhoeven, NLD (Yamaha) 11:01:18
