Guerlain Chicherit: "Pity that it didn't work out 100%!"

Dakar 2025 | Stage 1 | BISHA > BISHA
January 4 ^th 2025 - 17:07 [GMT + 3]

Triumphant in the stage despite thinking he had blown his chance, Guerlain Chicherit suffered a minor fire that cost him a few extra minutes at the finish. The Frenchman deliberately took the opposite approach to his rivals and explained his rationale.

"We started this morning at a very good pace before running into GPS issues, like everyone else, from what I've gathered at the finish. We took quite a few risks overtaking and part of the rear of the car came loose and got onto the rear exhaust, which triggered a small fire. We had to stop and lost a lot of time —4 or 5 minutes because of that. I didn't think we’d win; I was expecting to finish fifth, sixth, or seventh. I predicted that all the top guns would follow the same strategy, so I asked myself, 'Should I stay with the herd in a low-risk, low-reward approach, or should I do the exact opposite?'. I took a gamble. Pity that it didn't work out 100%! Winning tomorrow is virtually impossible. What I need to do is limit the damage to 15 minutes or less. If I can pull it off, I'll still be within 5 minutes of the rest."