For the seventh stage, competitors left Tan Tan very early in the morning. Around 2:00 PM the first riders arrived at the bivouac of Atar, but the stage had not ended. At midnight, about 50 pilots were still in the desert, most of them almost sure they were about to spent the night far from the bivouac. Some of them decided to stop and sleep a short, cold and troubled night. Some others proceeded very slowly. During the night, time after time, a headlight coming from the dark announced the arrival of a pilot. The organizers decided to let the last riders leave for the next stage after a medical check-up. Should they reach the bivouac at Nouackchott? And should they have the time to enjoy this area devastated by a sandstorm?
Meanwhile, today's special test was running with Esteve, Coma, Sala and De Gavardo leading the group. The quartet proceeded in a lapse of no more than seven minutes until the first check point. Then, in the following sandy section, the drama began.
The four leaders had problems navigating when looking for a secret waypoint in the dune crossing section. Cyril Despres—yesterday's "blue bird" with clipped wings, spread his wings again: "I didn't want to take any medication this morning. I wanted to have the real feeling and ride relaxed. This was not easy, but...". Cyril Despres made the pass at CP2 for first, with seven minutes over second place Esteve. It was a tremendous, proud act of self-propulsion.
In the last hundred kilometers, David Casteu took maximum advantage from the renewed situation and finally won his first special test of the Dakar, just in front of the admirable American Chris Blais. Then Cyril Despres and Isidre Esteve.
"I have to thank Cyril Despres," said Casteu at the finish, "He is a master in navigation. I only had to follow him, and learn. At the finish I thought for a long time about how this was the area where last year we lost Fabrizio Meoni. I dedicate my first victory to him; I am sure he is watching us and he is also happy for my success today."
The stage was an adrenaline injection for Marc Coma, who finished only fifth. But for the Spaniard, the daily goal was only to control the situation and, in order to do this, obviously the better thing was to shadow Isidre Esteve. To get lost is always disappointing, but in this outlier, it was a little less frustrating: all the riders made the same mistake together, and Coma was liable to follow this rival. In the end, the only risk was if they got lost for over a half an hour, so for the moment the Repsol KTM Team leader's situation can be considered under control.
Marc Coma is still leading with a certain comfort. Now the priority of the Repsol KTM teammate is to protect the advantage he gained in the first half of the race. Certainly, Cyril Despres gave him a kind of "support," and we'll also see if he's able to re-enter himself in the fight for the final success. This is life in a race like the Dakar: even with a bit of luck, you are the only builder of your final result, and you have to make any effort in order to reach that target. When a rival withdraws, your job is less difficult, but it remains very complex because another competitor can challenge you. If a strong rival has a problem and loses time, you have to doubt that certainty until the last finish line.
If anyone thinks that the Dakar 2006 could be less interesting, please walk in the bivouac with us. It is 1:00 AM, the riders are sleeping, a team manager is checking if his human and mechanical "materials" are sleeping well, one more time before to crawling into the sleeping bag.
All is ok: "As long as I feel strained, the race will be very interesting," says Jordi Arcarons, a smoking tea mug in his hands, "And I still feel thinly under pressure. The game is not over, and the race not ended yet. Marc is now simply in a very good position, and shows great talent, but he knows that he has to maintain his self control until the end. He knows his job, but the level of the tension is still very high."
Above the parts and the Teams is Hans Trunkenpolz, the "General" of the KTM Army—more than 60% of all the competitors. "For me the race is always very interesting. During so many years, every time I loved this special taste of victory, but one kind of feeling has become more and more intransigent: this one coming from the safety of the riders. Each day I feel good when a KTM rider wins a stage, but I finally feel completely comfortable only when the last rider has reached the bivouac without any accident."
Now finally the rest day. 24 hours of détente. Then the race will restart on Monday, en route to Kiffa.
Rankings - Special: 508 km
Stage Results:
1. Casteu (Gauloises KTM), 05:55:55h
2. Blais (Red Bull USAKTM), + 02:13
3. Despres (Gauloises KTM), +02:17
4. Esteve Pujol (Gauloises KTM), + 06:58
5. Coma (Repsol KTM), + 08:02
6. Caldecott (Repsol KTM), + 08:47
7. Rodrigues (YAMAHA), + 09:51
8. Vinters (KTM), + 11:24
9. Viladoms (Repsol KTM), + 12:16
10. De Azevedo (KTM), + 13:52
11. Sala (Repsol KTM), + 14:07
12. De Gavardo (Repsol KTM), + 15:21
13. Bethys (HONDA), + 16:24
14. Ullevalseter (KTM), + 25:38
15. Duclos (KTM), + 30:33
16. Meillat (HONDA), + 45:03
17.Piroud (YAMAHA). + 48:06
18. Rivera (KTM), + 49:44
19. Stanovnik (KTM), + 52:15
20. Gau (Gauloises KTM), + 54:07
Overall Results
1. Coma (Repsol KTM), 30:49:20 h
2. Esteve Pujol (Gauloises KTM), 30:55:43 h, + 06:23
3. De Gavardo (Repsol KTM), 31:01:09 h, + 11:49
4. Despres (Gauloises KTM), 31:16:14 h, + 26:54
5. Sala (Repsol KTM), 31:33:48 h, + 44:28
6. Caldecott (Repsol KTM), 31:36:49 h, + 47:29, Penalty: 02:00
7. Ullevalseter (KTM), 32:01:33 h, + 01:12:13 h
8. Casteu (Gauloises KTM), 32:10:36 h, + 01:21:16 h
9. De Azevedo (KTM), 32:17:27 h, + 01:28:07 h
10. Blais (Red Bull USAKTM), 32:17:56 h, + 01:28:36 h
11. Duclos (KTM), 33:32:18 h, + 02:42:58 h
12. Gau (Gauloises KTM), 33:50:01 h, + 03:00:41 h
13. Czachor (YAMAHA), 34:14:30 h, +03:25:10 h
14. Bethys (HONDA), 34:38:15 h, +03:48:55 h
15. Rodrigues (YAMAHA), 34:40:54 h, + 03:51:34 h
16. Marchini (YAMAHA), 34:41:55 h, + 03:52:35 h
17. Stanovnik (KTM), 35:01:38 h, 04:12:18h
18. Vinters (KTM), 35:15:27 h, 04:26:07h
19. Viladoms (Repsol KTM), 37:10:18 h, + 06:20:58h
20. Piroud (YAMAHA), 37:23:22 h, 06:34:02