car / audio
I kicked their asses!
It was a great stage, with big dunes and the car's fast. Last night I went through a whole thing and went on Youtube. You can go to Robby Gordon – Dakar – Air inflation; check it out, it's posted and explains the whole system. It's the same system that the French officials approved one year ago and now they've changed their minds. There, that's the system plug, with no possible chance of air. We schooled these boys. I'm pissed. I'm pissed at Stephane and I'm pissed at Nani for challenging my character about being a cheater and today I kicked their asses. I'm going to prove something every day for the rest of the rally. We're going to win every special from here home.
car
You also need a bit of luck
We saw that the sand was soft right away, so we deflated the tyres a bit and I saw that Stephane seemed to be stuck in a hole. A bit later, I inflated the tyres and then it was my turn to get stuck in a hole. In the end, we went through the dunes with very little air in the tyres because one of the tyres came of its rim. I opened the tracks in the dunes and it just goes to show that you also need a bit of luck. At the end, Stephane overtook me, but I'm happy to have finished. I think the rest of the cars will finish very late this evening.
bike
He's quick and clever
It was a magnificent stage, one of the finest specials that I've ridden on the Dakar over the last few years. In sporting terms, I expected that Marc was going to catch up with me and that it wouldn't be a good day. But it was majestic. I don't have any regrets, because I attacked throughout the first part. You have to go for broke on this Dakar; it's not a race where you can play the waiting game. Against Marc Coma, I'm doing battle with an excellent rider. He's quick and clever. So, I try and find the right pace. Apparently, there are riders in between us, so that's good news for the start tomorrow.
bike
There's another big stage tomorrow
It was a difficult day. I set off four minutes after Cyril and I managed to catch up with him. For the entire first part of the special I mainly focused on navigation, because there was absolutely no room for mistakes. After that, I knew that there would be good opportunities to attack in the second part and that's where I managed to regain ground on Cyril. It's no way near over, because there's another big stage tomorrow.
bike
The two leading riders are head and shoulders above the rest
Apart from the problems experienced during the first week, everything has been fine. Every day, I was finishing with the best. I was fifth once and today I'm second. It's good and I'm happy. This morning, there were a lot of tracks on the beach and it was difficult to follow. I decided to concentrate on the road-book and to try and navigate well at my own pace. I'm really pleased: finishing in 2nd place is great. I think that the two leading riders are head and shoulders above the rest. They are experienced and quick, but I'm going to carry on working this year, working hard. Perhaps next year I'll be able to fight for a place on the podium.
quad
The finishes in Argentina were simpler
This really hasn't been an easy Dakar. It's even been a very hard Dakar. Normally, the last days are easier. The finishes in Argentina were simpler. Here, there are dunes and it's very hot. It was complicated, but we've not got long to go now and we're nearly there. What I mean to say that at the end of the Dakar in Argentina, the last two stages were a lot more relaxed. You could focus your mind on just finishing and nothing else. It's different here and we still have more to come.
car
We came close to a real setback
As soon as we crossed the first dunes, we went over a crest and behind it was a sink hole, immediately penalising us as we got stuck. Time passed and the minutes seemed long. We lost at least 20 minutes, which meant that we would also lose the lead in the general standings. We cleared some sand and moved the car forward centimetre by centimetre to get out of there. Afterwards, I have to admit I took risks to claw the time back. That was the 50 km where I've attacked the most during the whole rally. In the end we caught up with Nani several kilometres from the finish, so he must have had problems too. I've been saying for a while that by getting stuck in the dunes it's possible to lose half an hour. Today we came close to a real setback.
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