Ross Branch: “We’re all in one piece and the bikes are going well”

Dakar 2022 | Stage 5 | AL-HOFUF > SHUBAYTAH
January 6 ^th 2022 - 16:17 [GMT + 3]

Credited with the 3rd best time of the day before the special was halted, Branch repeated a feat which he had already achieved at the beginning of the rally.

“It’s been a long rally for me. I’ve had some ups and downs, some really bad navigational errors, so I’ve tried to fix that and today it looked like it worked out. I really got lucky at one of the way points: a couple of the other guys missed it and took a little bit longer to find it, so I was really lucky to find it as quick as I did, but I’m happy with the day and happy to be in one piece. My overall position is not so bad. Obviously, I would have liked to be a bit higher, but it is what it is, and we’ve just got to try and take a little bit of time every day. If we can do that, then by the end of the rally, we should be in a good position. There’s no special team strategy at the moment. I think we’re waiting for the second week. Adrien has done an extremely good job at the front and myself and Andrew had some bad days on day one and day two. So, you know, it is what it is, and we’ve just got to try and get as much time back as we can. Like I say, Adrien is doing a fantastic job at the front, so the team is pretty happy. We’re all in one piece, the bikes are going well and I think that’s the main thing for us. We really want to get to the finishing line this year. The team has put so much effort in and I really hope we can get there”.