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 | Dakar 2010: Francisco Lopez attacks but lacks of fuel.
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A terrible misfortune has slowed down Francisco Lopez´s race today. The Chilean ranked 5th yesterday was ready to attack this morning shortly after 7am, the second special stage of Dakar 2010, from Córdoba to La Rioja. Perfectly supported by his Aprilia RXV 4.5, the Chilean had reached David Fretigne, today's winner, but 5 kms before the refueling, he run out of it. He managed to get there by borrowing some, but obviously he lost precious time, concluding the stage on the 25th place, 20 minutes away from Fretigne.
Today´s stage was very challenging because of the rain fallen the night before that stayed with the riders for the first part of the race. The timed 294 km, very technical, has caused problems to many riders because of a muddy and slippery ground. Then, the weather got better for the bivouac in La Rioja, in the homonymous province of Argentina, where the temperature reached 40 degrees.
Aprilia´s best rider of the day was Gerard Farres, despite of a fall at km 140 that injured his knee. He was driving fast and achieved the 10th position, ten minutes from the leader.
Excellent journey for Paolo Ceci, who did a stunt slide. With his regularity, the man from Modena has concluded 13th, while Alex Zanotti had another unfortunate day. Starting 85 ° this morning, he found all the first part of the special almost impossible to drive through, reason that obligated him to reduce his speed, and stop to help the Turkish rider that helped him yesterday, whose bike was trapped in the mud.
In the overall standings Farres is now 8th, while Lopez occupies the 13th position and Ceci is 15th. Zanotti is 85th, after a penalty of thirty minutes for not respecting a speed limit in a controlled area.
Francisco Lopez: "My moral is down. I was going really well, the bike was perfect and this is something we didn´t want. The race is still long, but starting like this does not help to keep me calmed and focused."
Paolo Ceci: "This morning was really terrible, raining, and there was foggy, you couldn´t see anything. The first part of the special was very slippery, and then it was better. At km 150 I felt, I slipped, fortunately without consequences. Today, there were many parts make me think I was in Sardinia."
Gerard Farres: "Today was a beautiful stage, difficult and technique and I found myself well on it. Unfortunately I fell after km 140, and I my knee is swollen."
Alex Zanotti: "Starting back from the riders I found a real slaughterhouse in the first 40 kilometers, I had to go like crawling along with the quads. Then I was able to go with my pace, but I had to stop to help the Turkish rider who had given me a hand yesterday."
2010/01/03 | 00:25 CET | Editor: MR/HS/E.Bauer
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