Private battle for Deacon
13 April 2012
The 600-mile 17th stage of the Paris-Dakar rally between Bamako and Bakel in Mali today was John Deacon's best chance of securing sixth place from BMW team-mate Jimmy Lewis.
The American closed the gap on Deacon by five minutes on yesterday's stage between Nema and Bamako but today offered the Plymouth motorcycle dealer an opportunity to redress the balance.
With Lewis suffering from a wrist injury, Deacon could make the most of the pain being suffered by his team-mate before the race reached the 200-mile timed section.
Deacon has only four more days in which to win a stage before the race reaches the capital of Senegal on Sunday.
