Jérôme Renaud has an old score to settle. He started his love affair with the Dakar on two wheels. He keeps bittersweet memories of his sole participation on a motorbike, when he had to withdraw from the race three days before the finish after overcoming the Mauritanian desert. Just a few months later, a terrible crash in the Pharaons Rally left him with three broken vertebrae and ended his career as a biker. Jérôme still feels the effects of that accident, but he has taken the time to recover and his passion for rally raids burns as bright as ever....

On the Dakar, solidarity has never been an empty word. The history of the most famous rally-raid is brimming with countless anecdotes of such camaraderie, from the most dramatic, with competitors staying by the side of injured rivals as they wait to be airlifted, to simple helping hands and other such fixes. All the riders and drivers know that some day they might need a little help to avoid falling by the wayside. Nelson Augusto Sanabria got a taste of such a scenario ten kilometres from the finish of the long special on the eighth stage. “My quad ground to a halt...

Cristina Gutiérrez already exudes the temperament and reflexes of an old hand on the Dakar. The Spanish driver is taking part in her third rally, after two relatively conclusive experiences which she completed in 44th (in 2017) then in 39th position (in 2018).However, this young lady, driven by her competitive fibre in every thing she does, always wants more. This year, Cristina has well and truly stepped up a gear, by participating in a higher performance prototype, which has allowed her to extend her ambitions. “Last year, I was driving a production model and...

Even after a solid performance on the 323 km special on the dunes around San Juan de Marcona, Guillaume Martens is still unsure whether he can make it to Lima. "I've lost count of all the times I had to pick up my motorbike", gasps the Dutchman. So much sand… "I'm exhausted. "I've never been so happy to see the finish line. Usually, I'm eager for more, but now I just want to get it over with." On Sunday, Guillaume reached the bivouac after a fifteen-hour struggle with his KTM. Yesterday, he spent another ten hours on the saddle. "I've never...

Olga Roučková's Dakar debut on her quad in January 2018 was a painful affair. The adventure had a happy ending when she reached Córdoba after a titanic effort (26th), often finishing the specials in the dark and on the verge of collapse. Her passion for the Dakar remains the same, but she found a way to keep competing while avoiding the most gruelling part. "Ollie" is now driving an S×S from the Czech Moto Racing Group team and has a different perspective of the Dakar: "It was so difficult to finish the race last year. I did it, in the end, but I...

On Monday evening, Gabriela Novotná managed to reach the bivouac before the sun dipped below the Pacific Ocean. It was a huge relief for the Czech rider, who had finished the previous stage at the stroke of midnight. "We went back through a dune sector that we had already visited the day before, but everything was different", she explains. "The dunes were amazing and much easier to navigate than in the dark." On Sunday, Gabriela ate dust and loads of sand on the road from Arequipa to San Juan de Marcona. "I love Peru and its dunes, but the return to racing...

He was ready and, above all, resolutely determined to take part in the race. Gregory Stuart oversees a macadamia nut plantation in South Africa, but his true passion is the Dakar, an event that has captivated him since he started riding a motorbike over two decades ago. This year, he decided to take the plunge. The tall, strapping lad made the challenge even harder by signing up for the Original by Motul category for riders without assistance. Shortly after finishing the first stage after the rest day, he sports the same fatigued expression as most of his fellow adventurers...

An angry Camelia Liparoti rolled across the finish line of stage 6. Not just because she broke one of her Yamaha YZR1000 R's steering rods in the first part of the special. Camelia is angry because she had to hang around at the entrance to a canyon for almost two hours just because another competitor had the truly amazing idea to turn his car upside down there. "This canyon was already problematic last year", says the Italian driver. "It's very narrow and, when someone messes up, there's no room left for others to go through. Let's be honest, this wasn't rocket...

The last female rider left in the rally, Anastasia Nifontova, managed to finish stage 6 before nightfall. It was another success for the Husqvarna rider, who is racing in her second Dakar in the Original by Motul category. The Russian's fatigue remains intact despite the mounting fatigue. "The organisers did their best to kill me, but I lived to fight another day!", she says in a burst of laughter. Jokes apart, Anastasia admits the stage from Arequipa to San Juan de Marcona pushed her to the limit."First, we had twenty kilometres on dunes where the sand had been...

Stage 4 marked a turning point in the shared adventure of Sara García and Javier Vega, who decided to race their first Dakar on hard mode, in the "Original by Motul" category for riders without assistance. The couple parted ways on the road to Moquegua after Sara's motorbike ground to a halt due to an electrical failure. It was a grievous stroke of bad luck, but Javier now sees it as a question of honour to keep on going, now riding solo but still with the unconditional support of his partner. The pro skier tackling the unforgiving Dakar rally spent over 16 hours...