Despres (Cars), Barreda Bort (Motorcycles) are Stage 2 Dakar Rally leaders - MotorSportsTalk

Editor’s note: Tune in to NBCSN on Monday at 11 p.m. ET for Dakar Rally highlights.

Two-time Dakar Rally champ Nasser Al-Attiyah’s lead in this year’s 40th Rally endurance race lasted just one day.

Frenchman Cyril Despres took over the lead of the Cars class following Sunday’s Stage 2 of the 14-stage Rally across Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.

Despres and his Peugeot covered the 195 mile course (267 kilometers) around Pisco, Peru in a time of 2 hours, 56 minutes and 51 seconds.

Despres, who finished third in last year’s Rally, reached the end of stage ahead of two French teammates Stephane Peterhansel (2:57:39) and Sebastien Loeb (2:59:59).

Al-Attiyah, meanwhile, dropped from first to fifth, nearly 15 minutes now behind Despres.

There were several wrecks during the course of the stage, most notably involving American driver Bryce Menzies, who barrel rolled his Mini several times.

Menzies and co-driver Peter Mortensen were uninjured, but their Mini was destroyed and their Rally is over for 2018.

MORE: Dakar Rally daily stages schedule, NBCSN broadcast schedule, list of all competitors.

MORE: Saturday’s Stage 1 wrapup

Here’s how all five classes fared after Stage 2, as well as the overall leaders after the first two stages:

CARS

1. France’s Cyril Despres, Peugeot, 2:56:51
2. France’s Stephane Peterhansel, Peugeot, 2:57:39
3. France’s Sebastien Loeb, Peugeot, 2:59:59
4. South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers, Toyota, 3:04:17
5. Argentina’s Orlando Terranova, Mini, 3:09:44

OVERALL LEADERS

1. France’s Cyril Despres
2. France’s Stephane Peterhansel
3. South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers
4. France’s Sebastien Loeb
5. Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah

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MOTORCYCLES

Spain’s Joan Barreda Bort rode his Honda to capture the stage with a time of 2.56:44. Bort had finished Stage 1 in fourth place.

France’s Adrien van Beveren and his Yamaha remained in second place (2:54 back), followed by Austria’s Matthias Walkner (4:24 back).

First stage leader Sam Sunderland finished seventh Sunday (3:02:45), but is still fourth overall.

1. Spain’s Joan Barreda Bort , Honda, 2:56:44
2. France’s Adrien van Beveren, Yamaha, 2:59:38
3. Austria’s Matthias Walkner, KTM, 3:01:08
4. France’s Michael Metge, Honda, 3:01:23
5. Argentina’s Kevin Benevides, Honda, 3:02:27

As for the five Americans in the class:

12th: Ricky Brabec (Honda), 3:04:03,
25th: Andrew Short (Husqvarna), 3:18:15
35th: Shane Esposito (KTM), 3:30:58
38th: Mark Samuels (Honda), 3:31.22
123rd: Bill Conger (Husqvarna), 6:37:09

OVERALL LEADERS

1. Spain’s Joan Barreda Bort
2. France’s Adrien van Beveren
3. Austria’s Matthias Walkner
4. England’s Sam Sunderland
5. Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla

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TRUCK

Defending Rally champ Russian Eduard Nikolaev (driving a Kamaz) moved up from third in Stage 1 to take the lead following Stage 2 with a time of 3:24.23. Argentina’s Federico Villagra finished second in the stage, 3:25 back, while Czech Ales Lobrais, who led after Stage 1, finished third, 5:38 back.

1. Russia’s Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz), 3:24:23
2. Argentina’s Federico Villagra (Iveco), 3:27:48
3. Czech Republic’s Ales Loprais (Tatra), 3:30:30
4. Czech Republic’s Martin Kokomy (Tatra), 3:35:34
5. Netherlands’ Ton van Genugten (Iveco), 3:44:31

OVERALL LEADERS

1. Russia’s Eduard Nikolaev
2. Czech Republic’s Ales Loprais
3. Argentina’s Federico Villagra
4. Czech Republic’s Martin Kokomy
5. Netherlands’ Ton van Genugten

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QUADS

1. Chile’s Ignacio Casale (Yamaha), 3:37:45
2. Russia’s Sergei Kariakin (Yamaha), 3:38:28
3. Argentina’s Gaston Gonzalez (Yamaha), 3:41:39
4. Peru’s Alexis Hernandez (Yamaha), 3:44:17
5. Argentina’s Pablo Copetti (Yamaha), 3:46:37

OVERALL LEADERS

1. Chile’s Ignacio Casale
2. Russia’s Sergei Kariakin
3. Argentina’s Pablo Copetti
4. Netherland’s Kess Koolen
5. Argentina’s Nicolas Cavigilasso

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SxS UTV

1. Brazil’s Reinaldo Varela (Can-Am), 4:18:44
2. Peru’s Juan Uribe Ramos (Can-Am), 4:27:43
3. France’s Patricie Garrouste (Polaris), 4:40:41
4. Spain’s Jose Pena Campos (Polaris), 5:10:08
5. Peru’s Anibal Aliaga (Polaris), 5:11:23

OVERALL LEADERS

1. Peru’s Juan Uribe Ramos
2. Brazil’s Reinaldo Varela
3. Peru’s Anibal Aliaga
4. Spain’s Jose Pena Campos
5. France’s Patricie Garrouste

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STAGE 3: On Monday, the Rally will move forward from Pisco, Peru to San Juan de Marcona, also in Peru.

Vicki Golden has earned a career worthy of a thousand stories and 805 Beer tells at least one of them, as “Inverted Perspective” premiered March 30 on the company’s website and YouTube channel.

Golden did more to break the glass ceiling in SuperMotocross than she ever thought possible. She knows this because riders have never felt the need to explain any of her accomplishments with the disclaimer, “for a girl”.

At this point in Golden’s career, she’s been the first woman to finish top 10 in AMA Arenacross Lites, the first woman to qualify in the Fast 40 in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the first woman to compete in freestyle Moto X competition, earning a bronze medal by doing so.

Her love for moto came from childhood while she watched her dad and brother ride. By seven she was on her bike and making waves throughout Southern California.

Golden, 30, is still madly in love with the sport and has no plans on moving away but her career is already one to talk about. 805 Beer’s film series wanted to do exactly that.

“I’m taken aback by it all,” Golden told NBC Sports about the documentary. “It’s just crazy to see your story, it’s one thing to live your life and battle everything that comes about but it’s another to just sit there and talk about it.”

805 approached Golden about the feature by asking, “Do you even realize that what you do, and your story is special?”

Golden took the question as a blank canvas to map out the highs and lows of her career and life.

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The title “Inverted Perspective” came from a brainstorming session with Dominick Russo and it highlights Golden’s outlook on the sport of SuperMotocross and her life in general.

“My whole life, my whole career was thinking differently and looking at things that shouldn’t be done and aren’t there, while being able to make a place for myself, where no one thought there should be a place,” Golden said. “It’s inspiring someone to think in different ways. It sums up my life.”

*Vicki Golden is not “fast for a girl”; she’s just fast. – 805 Beer*

While Golden is no stranger to the spotlight, this was the first time she’s been fully involved with the storytelling and creation of a feature about herself.

“It’s not like a full new experience,” Golden said. “Obviously, you get your standard questions about your upbringing and accomplishments, but I’ve never really put into perspective things that happened in my past with my dad and putting that to light. Also, certain other things that maybe got overlooked in previous interviews or films. I wanted to touch on these and Dom wanted to create a story. It’s just cool to see it come to light, it’s a nearly impossible thing to tell somebody’s life story in 40 minutes.”

Golden’s father was left paralyzed after an ATV accident, robbing him the opportunity to ride again. This happened a few months before the father-daughter duo was set to compete in the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals when Vicki was 12. While she might have been unable to grasp the severity at the time, it’s something she carries with her. Golden continues to ride in his honor.

Years later, an accident in 2018 nearly sidelined the then 25-year-old Vicki when a freestyle accident almost resulted in the amputation of her lower leg.

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Golden 805 Beer — *Vicki Golden has ridden a variety of disciplines in SuperMotocross, which gives her a unique perspective. – 805 Beer*

“Inverted Perspective” highlights her father’s diligence in helping Vicki continue with her career and the kindness and strength he carried while fighting his own battle.

“My dad was the entire reason that I started riding in the first place,” Golden said. “So, to honor his memory and to honor what we went through and how hard he pushed to keep our dream alive and keep everything going – in that sense then, it was really special to be able to honor him and talk about him.”

The 40-minute feature was filmed entirely in black and white, a stark contrast from the oversaturated world of motocross where the brighter the suit the easier it is for fans to find their rider and follow him in the race. By filming in monochrome Russo and Golden had the chance to focus on the race and track from a different perspective.

“It was cool to be able to film it differently,” Golden said. “It created a challenge in the sense of what was going to be more visually impactful for the film.

“I couldn’t be here without the companies that back me but at the same time, it’s not like the logos or colors disappeared, it’s just different lights shed on different spots. It’s just a cool way to do it and to take color away and still be impactful. When you think of black and white, you think of old school, the OG way of doing things.”

Read more about SuperMotocross