The fourth day finally brought what you can expect from the Dakar. A technical, challenging special which had everything to offer. Navigation was tricky from time to time. Faultless navigation got you further than riding at a high pace. Even the top riders regularly made  mistakes; already there have been many changes in the top ten. Spaniard Marc Coma kept his coolness, and won the stage. He remains in the lead comfortably.

Three days are behind us, and the competitors had the chance to get into their rhythm. Slowly everybody's riding in the position where they should be riding. Until now the stages were fast and technically not so difficult. The big 690's were the ones to profit most of the fast stretches, the lighter 450's haven't been in the picture that much, although Frenchmen Fretigne is doing very well with a second place overall on a Yamaha 450. Also today, 350 km. out of the 550 km long special could be ridden with the throttle full open.

The second day in the Dakar went well for the team. At 18.00 hours local time all riders were in the bivouac. There were some crashes here and there, but without further consequences. Teammanager Henk Hellegers: Another day passed. You can see that quit a few of the bikes are getting hammered, I've seen a lot with damages. I keep telling our riders not to take any unnecessary risks in this part of the rally. The time to be won isn't worth these risks. That will come later.''

The first stage of the Dakar 2009 caused a lot of commotion. And already the first competitors are out of the rally. Amongst them unfortunately also team member Ebert Dollevoet. A dislocated shoulder meant an early retirement from his Dakar. The organization had already announced it, the stage of today was going to be very fast. And indeed it was: a highest average of 133 kilometers per hour in the bikes and 142 kilometers in the cars was measured!

[UPDATE: more action shots added!]

All competitors agreed: they hadn't seen anything like this before. It was the showstart through the center of Buenos Aires. From the parc ferme a tour of 14 kilometers had to be ridden, with the passage of the start podium near the Obelisk as climax of the evening. Kees Koolen: ,, What a people! Along the whole route it was completely packed. We came through a street which was 6 lanes wide. There was just enough room for us to get through. I kept my feet on the footpegs, balancing in between the spectators, who were keeping me upright. Incredible! They said there were 500.000 people; well there were 500.00 alone in this street. Really great to be a part of this! ''

After all the vehicles were already checked in Le Havre, it was now the turn for the competitors to do their part of the verifications. The bikes went almost straight into the parc fermé, after which the competitors, the assistance and press crews could start their paperwork. Always a bit of a hassle. The organization provides a stamp card, after which you have to go from desk to desk to get all the required stamps. When you have all these, you get a final check stamp, and you're ready to go, and the waiting for the start begins. [UPDATE: new images from Antek Puzio]

Competing in the most wellknown rally in the world, the Dakar rally, also means being part of a big circus. It's an incredible jog to organise everything into the smallest details. Getting media attention is part of this. It's important to keep the sponsors happy, and some Dakarcompetitors find it also interesting to see themselves appear on television. None of this apllies to Kees Koolen, who chooses his own direction.
His goal is clear: to finish. Nothing more, but certainly nothing less.

Kees Koolen ( on the rigth) concentrated before the start of the PAX Rally