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Stage 2: Santa Rosa de la Pampa – San Rafael
Road connection: 487 km – Special Stage: 295 km Total: 782 km
The Dakar´s second stage arrived to San Rafael, in the region of the renowned wine yards of Mendoza. The heat wave reigns since yesterday with the high temperatures for the whole rally caravan.
The special stage was different for bikes that completed more kilometers than cars and over a rougher ground, part of it over dried river beds in the dunes of Nihuil.
In bikes, Marc Coma went to a higher level. Started second behind Chaleco, the Dakar winner of 2011 overtook the Chilean rider who made a navigation mistake in the dunes. “I tried to follow him (Coma), but at a moment I broke the trip with my helmet, so I slowed down.” Third of the day was Cyril Despres, started far behind in the 13th position, but that finds himself now only 2’52’’ from Coma. Pryzigonski takes a beautiful 4th place in front of Barreda and Casteu.
Behind them, the hecatomb begins. Bruno Da Costa hit a cow while riding at 130 km/h. The French was rescued by the helicopter, and taken to the hospital for a scanner with a kidney hemorrhage. Matheiu Lagrive also had an accident, but was able to make it to the bivouac with a broken down bike and Jonah Street had mechanical problems and is blocked at km 234. Cody Quinn and Ruben Faria also faced mechanical problems while Helder Rodrígues had electrical problems yesterday and fuel was his issue of the day…
