Stage 1 - Saturday 3 January 2009 | Buenos Aires > Santa Rosa de la Pampa
- Connection 196 km
- Special 371 km
- Connection 166 km
Press Releases
Coma, alone in the Pampa, BMWs all over the place
Whilst Marc Coma’s victory was foreseeable for the first stage, the magnitude of his success and the catastrophes experienced by other bike race favorites put paid to most of the predictions. Despres and Casteu may have already seen their hopes for overall Dakar victory evaporate. In the car race, BMW met both with success, for Nasser Al Attiyah, and...
Breaking news
21:29 - 421 crews complete the special stage
At 17.15 local time, 421 of the 500 crews to start the rally this morning - 212 bikes, 23 quads, 157 cars and 29 trucks - had made it through the first special stage of the 31st Dakar and were heading to, or had already arrived at, Santa Rosa de La Pampa, the end point of this first stage, where a crowd of several thousand spectators had rushed to watch the...
20:38 - Truck - Stage 1 summary
20:35 - Car - Stage 1 summary
20:35 - Bike - Stage 1 summary
20:24 - Quad - Stage 1 summary
20:21 - Truck - First stage victory for Van Vliet!
interviewdujour
Marc Coma (Esp – 2 – KTM) - 002
“The problem with this special was the distance. I paced myself cautiously, waiting for the moment, on an unusual...
The entreviews are not yet available.
Carlos Sainz (Esp – 301 – Volkswagen) - 301
“After 110 km, already I was catching up with the bikes. It was difficult to overtake and rely solely on the...
Gerard De Rooy (Hol – 505 – GINAF) - 505
The Dutch driver kicked off the rally with a second-place finish on the day’s stage, which he found very...
Portrait of the day
Gossip
500,000 spectators!
The enthusiasm of Argentines for motor-sports is not to be underestimated. In the country of Fangio, the...
Portrait of a lady
Quad
Camelia Liparoti
On a new quad, straight from the KTM workshop in Mattighofen, in Austria, Camelia Liparoti is both the first rider...
Travel diary
parcours
Buenos Aires > Santa Rosa
Many have heard of La Pampa, where men are reputed to be “rough, but always courteousâ€. This first stage will provide the opportunity to discover the length of these vast plains. Dakar competitors have never faced such a long special. With over 400 km of rolling routes, perhaps the fastest on the program, this will constitute a real warm-up. It will be the occasion for everyone to affront a long day that will get rid of all problems in adapting to jet lag.
Public areas
On some special stages, special viewing areas are set aside for the public. Their location is communicated three days before the race passes by.
Standings
Standings
| Special n°1 | bike | quad | car | truck |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st starts(GMT-3) | 07:50 | 07:50 | 09:55 | 12:45 |
| Number of participants | ||||
| from start | 217 | 25 | 177 | 81 |
| have left | 216 | 25 | 177 | 81 |
| at CP 1 | 215 | 24 | 172 | 79 |
| at CP 2 | 215 | 24 | 172 | 79 |
| at CP 3 | 214 | 24 | 170 | 74 |
| at the arrival | 212 | 23 | 168 | 74 |
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