“This year it’s going to be harder than ever”

Joaquim Rodrigues went into the 2022 Dakar with high hopes, after a strong 2021 season that culminated in a podium at the world championship final in Abu Dhabi Desert. Unfortunately for the Portuguese veteran the following January started extremely badly when, along with a number of other front runners, he lost almost an hour looking for a waypoint on the first stage. Another stage finish outside the top 30 meant that he couldn’t do better than 14th overall on arriving in Jeddah, but -and it is a big but- he nevertheless stayed sufficiently focused to win his first ever Dakar special. A pleasure doubled by the fact that in doing so he also offered Hero their first ever stage victory on the race. On the second round of the 2022 W2RC back in Abu Dhabi ‘J-Rod’ finished sixth to move up to 8th overall in the championships but then scuppered his chances of a decent world championship place by crashing out of the Rallye du Maroc, before wrapping up the season with an 8th place on the Andalucia Rally. Since then Joaquim has been busy testing and training with the team, including an extended stay out in Namibia, the stomping ground of his teammate Ross Branch.

“The Dakar is so competitive these days, with so many potential winners, that if you lose an hour on the first day you can pretty much kiss goodbye to a decent overall result. But take that day out of the equation and my 2022 Dakar was much more positive with the win obviously but also a few stages hovering around the top 3. Since then we’ve had a busy and positive year and I think we are better prepared than ever. The Dakar is always a long and difficult race but this year it’s going to be harder than ever so anything can happen. If I can finish every day without too many problems then there should be a good result at the finish!”