January 12th, 2009

There was a brief break at the end of the eighth stage over the weekend in one of the more grueling motorcycle endurance races, leaving some time for celebration as well as questions.

France’s Cyril Despres on a KTM, won the motorcycle section of the eighth stage. Despres, who also won the event in 2005, finished the shortened 178km stage between San Rafael and Mendoza over two minutes ahead of Coma with another Spaniard, Jordi Viladoms, five minutes and 15 seconds back in third place.

Marc Coma of Spain, who finished second, 1min 49sec behind, kept the overall lead in the standings.

But Cyril Despres’ finish didn’t come without its own spectacular incident, he had to take evasive action to avoid a donkey which had strayed onto the track.

“I think it was a lucky escape, for both him and me. The tracks were quite slippery and that’s why you need technical skill to be quick on them and strength too, to keep control of the bike,” a stunned Despres told reporters after the event.

In the overall standings, Coma leads American Jonah Street, who gave up more than 10 minutes to Despres, by over 40 minutes with France’s David Fretigne in third place.