Team Honda Europe stage 9 report

Team Honda Europe has finished the most difficult stages

After several days of long and tough stages fear for the last stage in de dunes grew amoung the competitiors. What would the special to La Serena look like? It turned out to be a friendly and fun stage in this difficult rally. The riders of Team Honda Europe try to keep focus and stay on their bikes. If they don't make too many mistakes, the finish in Buenos Aires becomes in sight. All five have proven they are able to reach it.

The 9th stage started in groups. The top ten started together, the rest in groups of twenty. It was a great show! Dutchman Frans Verhoeven surprised everyone with a first place at CP1. Later in the day he had to slow down. Gerben Vruggink and Marcel Snijders led the third group, and Tonny Krabbenborg took the lead of his right after the start. The riders had to climb a very big sanddune, which was a spectacular sight.

Christopher Jarmuz (41 in the stage, 31 overall) did not get in front of his group right away. He had hoped for a better ranking. "It was a fast special, and I lost some time due to two small crashes. The navigation was quite hard today but I did not make any mistakes."

Gerben Vruggink (72 in the stage, 48 overall) feared the special today. "It turned out to be ok, but I tried to keep a steady pace. A lot of people really pushed their bike, and I don't like that kind of riding. I try to be carefull with the bike, but sometimes you have to cross limits to get through. We had to go through the dunes during the hottest part of the day. Because of the fear this was the hardest day for me this Dakar."

Patrick Trahan (47 in the stage, 58 overall) had fun today. It was sand from the beginning to the end of the stage. I worked hard and tried to ride as fast as possible. Twice I got stuck, but that wasn't too bad for a day like this. And there was something with the fuel today which cost me 5 minutes in the last 50 kilometers. I want to ride with the first 50. A lot of people sat on their bikes today, but I was still happy to stand on my bike. I feel very well, and I like this competition"

Tonny Krabbenborg (61 in the stage, 82nd overall) had yet another trouble free day. He took the lead of his group right after the start. "After an hour I could overtake Gerben, and at the end of the special I was 20 minutes ahead of him. The dunes had sharp edges, which could be dangerous. I did everything myself today, and spend quite some time on my own without making mistakes. A perfect stage for me!"

Aloys Ressing (77 in the stage, 80 overall) was as enthousiastic as ever. "This is Dakar, this is the desert I imagined at home! I spend the day with a smile on my face. Starting with 20 riders together was great. And you could see that the fast cars and KAMAZ trucks needed to work hard to get through the dunes. And one of the KAMAZ trucks waited for his turn to climb a dune, he waited untill a rider had reached to top and was out of the way. Dakar is also about riding together, which was shown here by the KAMAZ team. I would like a few more days like this!

The next stage continues from La Serena to Santiago. Jugding ffrom the crowds today in the bivouac it will probably get even more busy. The next stage serves dust and stones for the riders. The special is 238 km long, and the first riders leaves the bivouac at 05.40h.