Yamaha France supported Xavier de Soultrait following in sixth. Ready to enter the rally’s home stretch the two Frenchmen together with Hélder Rodrigues will continue their battle to bring Yamaha as close as possible to the top step of the final podium.
Following the cancellation of today’s stage nine the trio of Yamaha Racing riders together with their team crews have all arrived in the city of Chilecito. With weather conditions having played a major part in the rally this year competitors and team crews will now have to face temperatures reaching up to 40C degrees, as the Dakar Rally heads south and towards the low altitudes of the Argentinean plains.
With three quarters of the 2017 Dakar Rally already completed Yamaha Racing riders are still well-placed and well in contention for strong overall standings. Leading the efforts of the Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team is France’s Adrien Van Beveren, who is eight minutes behind the second placed rider and less than half an hour behind the provisional leader.
Closely following in sixth is Adrien’s countryman Xavier de Soultrait. Continuing to impress aboard his rally modified WR450F machine, Xavier will be aiming to reach the top five during the final stages of this year’s rally. As for Hélder Rodrigues, the Portuguese rider is now 16th in the provisional overall standings and remains focused on successfully finishing his eleventh Dakar Rally.
With standings in the Quad class remaining unchanged after the cancellation of today’s stage, Yamaha riders continue to occupy the first three spots in the provisional overall rankings. Leading the pack by six minutes over France’s Axel Dutrie is Russia’s Sergey Karyakin. Yamaha Raptor 700R mounted Ignacio Casale is still third in the provisional overall standings, three stages before the finish.
Tomorrow’s stage 10 includes 449km of timed special in a total of 751km from the Chilecito bivouac to the city of San Juan. With the day’s timed special featuring some very technical passes, it is expected to be yet another hard day of racing at the 2017 Dakar Rally.
