Declarations
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David Frétigné (FRA – Yamaha – 1er)
"This morning, I wanted to show what I was capable of after all the problems I have had since Morocco. I had to attack and feel more self assured. I have been feeling better for the past three days. Today I made the good navigation choices, except one mistake which coasted me about two minutes. I had to ride at a good pace. I win with a very tiny advantage, but I am happy since I finish my Dakar on a good stage. Tomorrow, I’ll try and win another stage at the Lac Rose, and next week I’ll think about my potential for the coming races."
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Marc Coma (ESP – KTM – 2nd)
"I had no major difficulty today, except the navigation which was very hard. But we managed to cop with this. Now, there is only a few kilometres to complete on the beach. It is the last one but it is important. And we will prepare it as seriously as any other one."
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Frans Verhoeven (HOL - Yamaha - 5th)
"Today, I was feeling so well. I am very happy about this tresult since I had many problems this on thye rally. I changed twice the gear box. I came to enter the Top 10.
Today I attacked and things went on well. Every one lost himlself and so did I. At this moment,I was with Cyril Despres. I decided to try something and left on my own. And it worked."
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Today I attacked and things went on well. Every one lost himlself and so did I. At this moment,I was with Cyril Despres. I decided to try something and left on my own. And it worked."
Gerard Farres Guell (SPA - Yamaha - 3rd)
"I am happy to be on the podium of a stage. It is good for the team Yamaha Spain. But, my good result is linked to the bad result I made yesterday. I started quite late today what helped me choose the good track. In fact, I even saw Despres and Sala coming back because they were lost. That’s why I am third today. But the real reason why I am so proud, is that I reach Dakar for my first participation."
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Cyril Despres (FRA – KTM – 43rd)
"I had another difficult day in terms of navigation. But my Mum taught me to say "I don’t like spinach" instead of "Spinach are not good". So I will say that I don’t like this road book. Everyting went on well until CP1, where I took the wrong track at the exit of a village. It took me ten kilometres to realize I was not on the good way. Even I should have made a u-turn, I prefered to look for an off-road short cut, not to lose too much time. I agree navigation has to be difficult, but today, it was a bit too much. There were riders every where and I almost crashed into riders hidden in the dust or coming in the invert way. It is a pity since today’s stage was beautiful. At last, I easily forgot it thanks to the tribute yto Fabrizio. It is wonderful what his association is doing here.