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--  Dakar Stage Four - Nazca to Arequipa total distance 718 km – 429 km liaison and 289 km special Stage Four Results 1, Joan Barreda, Spain, Husqvarna three hours 41.09 2, Olivier Pain, France, Yamaha 3:49.32 3, David Casteu, France, Yamaha 3:51.51 4, Gerard Farres Guell, Spain, Honda, 3:52.49 5, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal Honda, 3:52.52 6, Ruben Faria, Portugal KTM 3:53.27 Overall Standings after Stage Four 1, Pain, 10:10.38 2, Casteu, 10:13.02 3, Despres, KTM, 10:13.47 4, Barreda, 10:16.16 5, Jordi Villadoms, Spain, 10:18.00 6, Faria, KTM 10:19.17 24. Matt Fish (AUS, Husqvarna) 35:46 29, Ben Grabham, Australia, KTM, 10:59.37 -- Husqvarna Report - Joan Barreda (Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain) dominates the fourth stage of the Dakar. Joan Barreda commanded a particularly hazardous fourth stage of the Dakar, Nazca – Arequipa with 289 km of special test, which covered all types of terrain, and was made difficult by the “fesh-fesh” dust. The Spaniard on the Husqvarna TE449RR by Speedbrain battled his way to an eight minute lead over his nearest rival, and managed to come from behind in the process. This is the second win for Barreda and Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain so far in this Dakar and allows the rider who hails from Castellon to move up to fourth overall place (18th yesterday). Alessandro Botturi (12th) and Paulo Goncalves (18th) put in fine performances too riding together for the whole of the special, with Botturi in front of the leading group, trying hard to stay out of trouble and avoid mistakes on a route where mistakes and loss of way are highly probable due to such limited visibility. The consistency of the performance by Jordi Viladoms on a Husqvarna TE449RR by Speedbrain should also be pointed out, who after today’s eighth place, now finds himself fifth in the overall standings hot on the heels of fellow-Husqvarna rider Joan Barreda. Matt Fish made an effort to make up for yesterday’s performance and his twenty-fourth place today moves him up seven places in the overall. The caravan rolls on tomorrow to Arequipa ad Arica with 411km including 136 km of special test. Joan Barreda: “I really rode well today. I’m very pleased. I knew it would be a tough one today, so I wanted to push hard. My starting place in twenty-fourth didn’t really favour it especially with the first 20 kms of dust. What’s more, I had the electronic road book broken and I had to move it forward manually throughout the whole stage. I did a perfect stage!” Alessandro Botturi: ”A really difficult stage where at certain points visibility was zero. I did a good race. I pass the 3 riders in front of me and arrive first at the end of the stage. It turned out well, and now I’m in ninth overall place, and that gives us a bit of breathing room for tomorrow” Paulo Goncalves: ”What a lot of dust! Even though I got away in second place today, it was still really tough. We opened the stage and was not so easy. I managed to do not make mistake and I follow Alessandro that was leading for mostly of the stage.” Team Manager Wolfgang Fischer: "Joan today rode a blinder. Really tremendous! He showed just how able he is to navigate especially under these conditions. I really pleased too for all the other team riders who were able to interpret the stage so well.” Dakar Project Leader Berthold Hauser: “Winning two out of the four stages gives us enormous satisfaction. The riders and the whole team are doing a great job! There’s still a long way to go but we couldn’t have got off to a better start.” -- KTM Report Dakar 2013: Despres comfortable in 3rd overall and riding his own pace Four times Dakar winner Cyril Despres of the Red Bull KTM factory team continued to ride at his own pace in Tuesday’s Stage Four on his KTM 450 Rally bike, sacrificing a few minutes to finish third in the overall standings but saving energy for the long and strenuous ride ahead. Despres, not only an exceptional rider but also a great tactician said he had backed off a little in the stage, which gave those behind a chance to gain some time. “It's not the first time this happens,” he said at the end of the stage. “But don't worry about me, I'm racing my way. I've been riding at a high pace for three days, but not flat out, which helps me to save energy and avoid pushing the motorcycle to the limit. When you start at the back and go like crazy all day long, you ride in the dust, so if you later have mechanical problems, it won't be down to just bad luck... The rally's still long and I ride at my pace!” Despres may have coasted in after the day’s ride at fifteenth place but he is only three minutes 09 behind the overall leader and feeling comfortable after what was a tough 720 km total ride in Tuesday’s stage. Organizers had planned it to be the reverse of a stage from last year’s edition and it included a tricky 2 km downhill slide in the first third of the special. Fastest KTM factory rider in Stage Four was Despres’ support rider Ruben Faria who finished in sixth place 12:18 behind today’s stage leader Joan Barreda of Spain. Other riders from the two KTM factory teams included Jakub Przygonski in ninth, South Africa’s Riaan Van Niekerk in eleventh, American Kurt Caselli in seventeenth, Darryl Curtis of South Africa in twenty second and Joan Pedrero in twenty third. Faria is also now sixth overall 8:39 behind the leader and Przygonski is well placed at tenth with a deficit of 14:20, including a five-minute penalty. Stage Five takes riders from Arequipa to Arica on the border with Chile over a total distance of 411 km – a liaison of 275 km and 136 km of timed special. -- Yamaha Report The fourth day of the 2013 Dakar Rally saw strong performances from Yamaha riders Olivier Pain and David Casteu, taking them to first and second respectively in the overall standings. Yamaha Racing France rider Pain has been gradually moving up the standings with strong rides and completed today’s 429km special stage in second on his YZ450F based machine, just over eight minutes from the fastest rider. Team Casteu Yamaha Racing France rider Casteu has also been using his Yamaha to good effect, steadily moving through the competition. Casteu finished today’s stage in third, just over two minutes behind Pain. Yamaha Netherlands Verhoeven Team rider Frans Verhoeven experienced a difficult fourth day, losing valuable time with a fuel hose issue. The Dutchman was forced to stop and repair his bike on-stage, eventually bringing it home in 53rd place to drop to 27th in the overall standings. On four wheels Marcos Patronelli continues to dominate the Quad competition, taking top honours in today’s stage to further consolidate his position at the top of the overall standings with a 14 minute advantage over his closest rival. Yamaha’s still make an impressive six out of the top ten quad entrants. Yamaha Racing France Power Bike Team rider David Frétigné was unfortunately forced to retire from the Dakar today, the French rider failing to make the third checkpoint of the special stage after suffering from a technical issue. “I strayed a bit off track and, being behind the rest of the bikes at the top of the valley, I was able to take the shortest route and make up a lot of time,” said Olivier Pain. “I've been riding at my pace from the beginning, with no pressure, just to have fun, and doing my best not to fall because the rally's just begun. I don't want to get overexcited about my place in the overall, the rally's still long and my objective is to finish in the Top 10 every day, and I hope to continue doing this well until the end.” “It really was a difficult stage,” commented Marcos Patronelli, “quite complicated especially when we had the sun in our faces. There was also lots of fesh-fesh. It was difficult. But it was such a beautiful stage; I'd almost like to come back here! The big descent was wonderful, very long. At times the stage was really magnificent. There was a ten-kilometre section alongside the beach, which was nice too. After that, there were lots of little tracks that were very rocky and the quad was bouncing from side to side. In the end, it was a tiring stage and now there is a long way to get to the bivouac”.

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