Joan Barreda wins final stage of the Dakar 2014, finishes seventh overall

After yesterday´s gruelling experience of losing his runner-up position in the overall standings, Joan Barreda recovered from the shock and despair and showed again a fantastic stage by winning the final day.

#3 Honda: Joan Barreda

Photo by: A.S.O.

Starting with a brand new developed bike, the outstanding Honda CRF 450 Rally, Barreda was able to win a record of five stages. "Bang Bang" was leading the overall standings for the first four days and only lost his fine runner-up overall position after Friday´s crash and delay caused by various repair stops during the special stage. His fantastic speed and extraordinary navigation skills - opening many days the track in front of all top riders - got setbacks only by minor technical problems and the damage as a result of his fall at the penultimate stage.

Joan Barreda: "Losing the podium yesterday after my crash was one of the worst experiences I ever made. I was in despair to reach the finish line in the time to keep my runner-up position, but everything was against me. I struggled, fought and lost the fight. Overall, the race was a very good and important experience, I tried everyday my best, maybe yesterday too much. I am happy to have reached the finish line now and can go home with a bag of achievements, and a lot of input where I still can improve and come back stronger.

I want to thank my team for their perfect job and all-year support they provided. Thanks to Honda for giving me with the CRF 450 Rally an awesome, super-competitive bike. A special thanks goes to my teammate Paulo Goncalves, who stayed with me all the days to help after he was out of the race because of his fire incident. With him still in the race, yesterday´s problem could probably have been fixed and the time loss might have been reduced."

Wolfgang Fischer, Team Manager: "Yesterday´s bummer to lose the podium was a real slap-in-the-face for us after making such good progress. It´s a bitter pill to swallow for all in the team working so hard to make it happen, after having lost Paulo already early in the race. But nobody can say we did not try everything to fight for the top position until the last moment, constantly pushing hard. Thanks to all in the team, at Honda and everyone supporting us. Congratulations to Marc Coma, he did a very fine race and it was exciting to challenge him - now we continue to improve to return next year even stronger."

Provisional result - Dakar 2014, Stage 13:

1. Joan Barreda (ESP, Honda) +01:59:44
2. Olivier Pain (FRA, Yamaha) +00:00:40
3. Helder Rodrigues (PRT, Honda) +00:01:23
4. Juan Pedero Garcia (ESP, Sherco) +00:01:35
5. Cyril Despres (FRA, Yamaha) 00:02:30
6. Jordi Viladoms (ESP, KTM) +00:03:31
7. Michael Metge (FRA, Yamaha) +00:04:08
8. Daniel Gouet (CHL, Honda) +00:04:17
9. Jakub Przygonski (POL, KTM) +00:05:16
10. David Casteu (FRA, KTM) +00:07:20

Provisional overall standings:

1. Marc Coma (ESP, KTM) 54:50:53 hrs
2. Jordi Viladoms (ESP, KTM) +01:52:27
3. Olivier Pain (FRA, Yamaha) +02:00:03
4. Cyril Despres (FRA, Yamaha) +02:00:38
5. Helder Rodrigues (PRT, Honda) +02:11:09
6. Jakub Przygonski (POL, KTM) +02:31:46
7. Joan Barreda (ESP, Honda) +02:54:01
8. Daniel Gouet (CHL, Honda) +03:10:34
9. Stefan Svitko (SVK, KTM) +03:50:10
10. David Casteu (FRA, KTM) +03:58:09

KRC