Quad pro quo

Dakar 2018 | Stage 6 | Arequipa > La Paz
January 11 ^th 2018 - 01:57 [GMT -4]

Axel and Alex continue their quad adventure, overcoming minor setbacks here and there and helping each other out whenever necessary. The formula has worked like a charm so far.

The Dakar does not have a tandem category, but these two fellows sure are a great duo. Alexandre Giroud was looking good as he hit the final chain of dunes in stage 5, but the desert of Tacna can sometimes be cruel: "I got stuck and Axel stopped to lend me a hand. He helped me to push the quad onto a platform so I could get back on the move. It took us just two minutes, but I wouldn't have made it on my own." The day was saved by a gesture of solidarity like the ones these two riders are well accustomed to. It is fair to say that Axel Dutrie did not particularly enjoy the last part of the special: "It was the worst day of my rally career", he starts. "My tank had an electrical failure during the liaison. I patched it up, but it failed again during the special. I messed up my navigational instrumentation while trying to fix it. I got lost for over half an hour until I finally got back on track. I later blew a fuse and then, 20 klicks from the finish, I suffered a flat tyre and had to end the stage on a bare rim."

All in a day's work. In the end, helping his race buddy was the highlight of his day: "Last year, it was him who towed me for 50 kilometres and saved my Dakar". Having ridden together the 400 km liaison to the bivouac in Arequipa, Axel and Alex are both sick to the back teeth of sand after the intense start to the first week. "Sand? Not even in summer! I'll tell my wife we can go skiing, to Norway or somewhere else, but definitely not the beach", jokes Alexandre Giroud. Now that their Peruvian woes are over, the man from Grenoble is already thinking of the finish in Córdoba, but he has also got an errand to run on the rest day: "When we get to La Paz we'll give a pallet of shoes to an organisation that supports the rehabilitation of street children. We have to make our visit count for something. It's not just about crossing the desert."