Argie Bargie
By TMX Archives on 10th Jan 14
Spaniard Joan Barreda Bort, riding a Honda CRF450 Rally, leads the 36th Dakar Rally as the motorcycles headed into the third 373km special stage between San Rafael and San Juan in north west Argentina on Tuesday morning.
Honda has shown impressive form in recent months, and outright wins in both the Morocco and Merzouga rallies were a case in point.
But no-one at Team Honda Racing expected to win the opening two special stages of the 2014 Dakar.
Barreda Bort's success on Sunday was the first for the Japanese manufacturer on the event since Gilles Lalay won the 15th special stage of the 1989 Paris-Tunisia-Dakar event 25-years ago.
Despite the fact that Britain's Sam Sunderland claimed a sensational second stage win for Honda into San Rafael – his first on the Dakar – Barreda Bort extended his overall lead to 2mins 3secs over Chile's Francesco ‘Chaleco' Lopez (KTM) heading to stage three.
Sunderland, aged just 24, started confidently as a member of Team HRC with his Honda CRF450 Rally.
The Dubai-based Brit held ninth after the opening stage and Monday's win catapulted him to third overall after stage two, Sam no doubt benefiting from his experiences in the sand dunes of the UAE and a detailed pre-Dakar shakedown with other members of the Honda team on the Otamendi motocross track.
It was the best performance by a British rider on the Dakar since the late John Deacon won a stage shortly before his untimely death in Syria in 2001.
"There weren't so many dunes, maybe 50km or so,” said Sunderland.
"But it was a lot of fun and a big mixture of terrain. I am so happy to take the stage and so grateful to Honda for giving me this opportunity.”
In what is promising to be one of the closest motorcycle races in history, four manufacturers filled the top eight places, with Frenchman Alain Duclos in fourth place on a Sherco and defending champion Cyril Despres in eighth place on a Yamaha despite a heavy fall.
Despres was 83 seconds adrift of great KTM rival Marc Coma and 13 seconds adrift of Portugal's Paulo Goncalves on a third Honda, with Ruben Faria sixth.
The two British privateer riders were also running well through the punishing heat of the Argentinian summer.
"My plan was to aim for around 60% pace mark from the start to enable me to settle in, have some fun and get through the first Marathon stage on day three and four,” admitted Britain's Paul Jay, who held 142nd after the opening stage.
"I think the organisers (ASO) are aiming to wean most of us out before we start heading into Bolivia.
"If I get through there, into Chile, I'll see where I am and hopefully start opening the taps. Well, that's the plan!”
Jamie Smith is tackling the Dakar to raise money for Cancer Research UK and is the third British entrant on the Dakar. The KTM rider held 156th overall heading into the second stage.
A total of 174 bikes and 40 quads joined 147 cars and 70 trucks on the first 405km road liaison section from Rosario across Argentina to the start of the opening 180km special stage into San Luis.
A 224km link then guided riders to the overnight halt.
