Team HRC’s Joan Barreda raced to a commanding Stage 10 victory in the 2014 Dakar Rally on Wednesday, his fourth stage win of this year’s event.

Barreda won by eight minutes after 600 kilometres from Iquique to Antofagasta, heading fellow Honda rider Helder Rodrigues and Yamaha-mounted defending champion Cyril Despres.

“This is an important stage victory,” Barreda said. “I am happy I could make up time today. In the beginning I could not find a very good rhythm, but once I was inside the dune section things went well and I could run a consistently fast pace.

“My navigation went well also. I was cautious in the fesh-fesh sections and doing okay to avoid the dust. No real problems there. I am happy for my teammate Helder Rodrigues and his second place today.

“Now let´s stay focused for tomorrow, which brings the longest special stage of the rally.”

Barreda was handed a 15-minute penalty on Tuesday evening, but came out in aggressive fashion and closed the margin to Red Bull KTM’s overall leader Marc Coma by over 11 minutes. Coma’s lead now stands at 40m10.

The battle for third is heating up overall, with Red Bull KTM’s Jordi Viladoms coming under attack from Yamaha’s Olivier Pain, Rodrigues and Despres

Troy O’Connor is the leading Australian participant in 37th as he continues to claw his way forward, while Allan Roberts is 41st and Shane Diener improving to 46th.

2014 Dakar Rally
Argentina-Bolivia-Chile

Stage 10 results:
1. Joan Barreda 4h42m00
2. Helder Rodrigues +8m00
3. Cyril Despres +9m40
4. Olivier Pain +11m11
5. Marc Coma +11m26
6. Jakub Przygonski +15m08
7. Stefan Svitko +15m14
8. Javier Pizzolito +16m58
9. Ivan Jakes +18m17
10. Daniel Gouet +19m21

Overall standings (after Stage 10):
1. Marc Coma 41h48m33
2. Joan Barreda +44m10
3. Jordi Viladoms +2h02m03
4. Olivier Pain +2h16m12
5. Helder Rodrigues +2h21m16
6. Cyril Despres +2h28m27
7. Jakub Przygonski +2h29m15
8. Daniel Gouet +3h05m54
9. Stefan Svitko +3h33m07
10. David Casteu +3h41m54

Click here for detailed results