Dakar: stage 2

Ruben Faria has won the second stage of the Dakar, taking his victory in the final European stage.

The competitiors said goodbye to the continent with a second special stage lined with hoards of spectators. The conditions however were far from good with wet weather making the going very slippery.

Second place went to KTM’s Isidre Esteve who now sits in first place in the overall rankings after taking fifth in the first stage.

Brit Nick Plumb finished the stage in 70th on his BMWF650GS while Charley Boorman improved on his 185th of the first day, finishing in 114th with BMW team-mates Matt Hall in 110th and Si Pavey in 121st.

After the special stage a liaison took the competitors to the port of Malaga where they caught a ferry to Algeria, ready for the first African stage.

Stage 2 finishing positions:

1. Faria (KTM) 01:37:07h

2. Esteve Pujol (Gauloises KTM) +01:07

3. Casteu (Gauloises KTM) + 01:28

4. Rodrigues (YAMAHA) + 02:00

5. Coma (Repsol KTM) + 02:08

6. Pellicer (KTM) + 02:28

7. Farres Guell (YAMAHA) + 02:52

8. Goncalves (HONDA) + 03:07

9. Fretigne (YAMAHA) + 03:28

10. Sala (Repsol KTM) + 03:28

11. Despres (Gauloises KTM) + 03:38

12. AgraCarrera (YAMAHA) + 03:44

13. De Gavardo (Repsol KTM) + 03:50

14. Blais (Red Bull USAKTM) + 03:59

15. Mateus (KTM) + 04:01

16. Viladoms (Repsol KTM) + 04:04

17. Grider (Red Bull USAKTM) + 04:34

18. Duclos (KTM) + 04:43

19. Verhoefen (YAMAHA) + 05:05

20. Amaral (KTM) + 05:09

27. Caldecott (Repsol KTM) + 06:00

28. Gau (Gauloises KTM) + 06:06