Since his first appearance on the Dakar, Ruben Faria has won a special each time he has taken part.

After losing out on victory on the first stage due to a penalty, Cyril Despres’s water carrier won today’s special, ahead of his countryman Helder Rodrigues.

Everyone is aware of the historical reputation of Portugal’s sturdy navigators of yore, who contributed to discovering the Americas some 500 years ago.

Their distant descendents, Ruben Faria and Helder Rodrigues reacquainted themselves with this conquering attitude on the approach to Arica, the day after the stage won by Paulo Gonçalves.

However, it was not patriotic feeling that drove Faria to triumph today, but his sense of duty. Taking starter’s orders for the special this morning in seventh place, the partner of Cyril Despres strove to catch up with his team leader as soon as possible to carry out his role of guardian angel.

Beforehand, though, Faria had to catch and overtake his countryman but also rival, Helder Rodrigues. The Yamaha rider had also decided to pull out all the stops, picking up the best provisional times until the midway point of the stage.

It was on the second part of the route that the Despres-Faria duo started to make progress. The situation was uncomfortable for the title holder, who felt worrying vibrations coming from the engine of his KTM, but the results continued to go in Faria’s favour.

On the finishing line, he picked up the best time with a lead of 50 minutes over Helder Rodrigues.

Another Portuguese-speaker, Jose Helio Rodrigues Filho, 12th in 2009, was however force to exit the race, after fracturing his collar bone during a crash.

In the battle for the top of the general standings, the minute regained by Despres brings him to within 8:48 of Marc Coma. The leader at the rest day now has a reduced advantage, in light of the dense programme of sand that awaits the bikers after Arica.

The issue of the other places on the podium is also far from settled, because ‘Chaleco’ Lopez, still 3rd, lost a significant amount of his lead over his pursuers.

Helder Rodrigues is only five minutes behind in fourth, and Faria is almost as threatening, a little more than seven minutes behind.

Such concerns are now very far off for David Casteu, who lost more than five hours to his rivals in the previous day’s stage. Now his only hope is to put his Sherco in the limelight by grabbing stage victories.

The Australian contingent shruk further today, with Warren Strange ruled out of the rally after injuring his shoulder in a heavy fall during the stage.

Jacob Smith remains top Aussie in 34th overall after taking 50th today, while Pavey is 71st overall after taking a solid 47th on stage six.

2011 Dakar Rally
Stage Six Results
1. Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM
2. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha
3. Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM
4. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
5. Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM
47. Simon Pavey, Australia, BMW
50. Jacob Smith, Australia, Honda

Standings after Stage Six
1. Marc Coma, Spain, KTM
2. Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM
3. Francisco (Chaleco) Lopez, Chile, Aprilia
4. Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha
5. Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM
34. Jacob Smith, Australia, Honda
71. Simon Pavey, Australia, BMW