Patrick Trahan, the sole Canadian rider remaining in the 2010 Dakar Rally motorcycle field, started day 5 with trepidation, having spent the previous night hooked up to a rehydration I.V. and worried that the mechanical issues plaguing his Honda CRF 450X the day before, hadn’t been fully resolved. The fourth stage though would be his best yet this rally. Starting in 90th position, 9:05:59 behind leader Cyril Despres, Trahan finished the special in 2:36:54 moving him up to 76th position overall.
“It was really a great day!”, wrote Patrick in his blog, “Pure pleasure. I arrived on time, the bike is intact and I’m not even tired! This day gave me much confidence!”
2009 Dakar winner Marc Coma won the stage, but still finds himself in 6th spot, 38’28” behind overall leader and arch rival Despres who came in third. Coma incurred a 22 minute penalty for exceeding the speed limit while racing through a village during stage one.
2010 Dakar Rally Stage 4 Results
1. COMA (ESP) KTM 01:46:58 00:00:00
2. CASTEU (FRA) SHERCO 01:49:02 00:02:04
3. DESPRES (FRA) KTM 01:50:12 00:03:14
4. LOPEZ CONTARDO (CHL) APRILIA 01:52:04 00:05:06
5. GONCALVES (PRT) BMW 01:53:57 00:06:59
6. MANCA (ITA) KTM 01:55:34 00:08:36
7. PRZYGONSKI (POL) KTM 01:55:41 00:08:43
8. PAIN (FRA) YAMAHA 01:55:58 00:09:00
9. RODRIGUES (PRT) YAMAHA 1:56:00 00:09:02
10. ULLEVALSETER (NOR) KTM 01:56:02 00:09:04
2010 Dakar Rally Overall Standings
1. DESPRES (FRA) KTM 10:44:16 00:00:00
2. CASTEU (FRA) SHERCO 10:53:09 00:08:53
3. RODRIGUES (PRT) YAMAHA 11:08:01 00:23:45
4. MANCA (ITA) KTM 11:14:07 00:29:51
5. DUCLOS (FRA) KTM 11:22:36 00:38:20
6. COMA (ESP) KTM 11:23:06 00:38:20
7. LOPEZ CONTARDO (CHL) APRILIA 11:23:23 00:39:07
8. STREET (USA) KTM 11:27:22 00:43:06
9. ULLEVALSETER (NOR) 11:35:29 00:51:13
10. GONCALVES (PRT) BMW 11:41:14 00:56:58
