A CRUSHING BLOW:
THERIC SOLDIERS ON
Prologues. Blink and you'll miss them, right? Well, not always…
For Neels Theric, today was the longest day. It took him 2 hours, 43 minutes and 29 seconds to get to the finish. The Frenchman suffered an electric failure at km 6, but he had the necessary spare part, so he worked hard to fix the problem and get back on the move… only for the same ignition sensor problem to recur with 2.5 km to go. The Kove factory rider overcame the heat to push his machine and cross the finish line dead last (115th).
Just 48 hours ago, Theric had been recovering from a nasty bout of flu he had caught on his way to the bivouac. Fifteenth overall on the same mount last year and sixth in Rally2, he had avoided all sorts of mechanical troubles during the two-week event and was harbouring high hopes for the race: "The heat and the sand took their toll on me. My bout of flu only made it worse… But I really wanted to finish the prologue. It's the Dakar, you can't just give up! It's a pity. I'll be starting last tomorrow, in the dust. But the race ain't over yet. My hopes of finishing on the Rally2 podium have been dashed, but I'll strive to put on a show, perform well and give it my all."
PROLOGUE OVER FOR KRISTOFFERSSON AFTER 16 KM
Sweden was having a great day in the Dakar, with Mattias Ekström bagging the 22 km prologue in the Ultimate class and Johan Kristoffersson eager to fly the blue flag with a yellow cross in the skies of Yanbu in his race debut. The rookie, an eight-time rallycross world champion, had plenty of experience drifting and jumping. However, his driving skills were not enough to keep his SSV on the track. Kristoffersson and his navigator, Ola Fløene, emerged unscathed from a barrel roll at km 16, but it is unclear whether their Polaris RZR will be able to tackle stage 1 tomorrow.
