Dakar 2010: Stage Eight

Francisco Lopez Contardo "Chaleco" chalked up his third stage win today on the Aprilia just 42 seconds ahead of Marc Coma.  Despres finished fifth, but easily maintained his lead in the overall standings despite destroying both wheels early in the stage.  Ruben Faria was his savior, trading wheels with him at the 245 Km point in the stage.  Pal Anders Ullevalseter finished third and moved up in the overall to second place, one hour and 20 seconds behind Despres.  As a result of a 6 HOUR penalty assessed to Marc Coma on the seventh stage for changing a wheel at the second part of the stage, witnessed by many competitors and verified by images taken by France Television, this was a violation of Article 18-4 of the rules and effectively crushed his chances of winning the Dakar this year. 

Jonah Street finished 13th on the stage and is now at 7th place overall 2 hours and 28 minutes behind.