Xavier de Soultrait: "We won't give up"

Dakar 2025 | Stage 7 | AL DUWADIMI > AL DUWADIMI
January 12 ^th 2025 - 16:45 [GMT + 3]

Twelfth on the day after squandering half an hour repairing his front axle, XdS played his second joker, pushing him an hour and a half behind his teammate Brock Heger, still perched at the top of the SSV ranking.

"A great special. We had a blast yesterday and wanted to do the same again. Halfway through the special, we hit a rock harder than usual, which bent the steering linkage and left us without power steering. It's really tough without power steering. The linkage finally gave way 50 km later and we had to stop to change it. Not dramatic for the finish. We still have five big stages left and we keep believing. But after the steering arm the day before yesterday that cost us between an hour and an hour and fifteen minutes, that's our second issue and we can't afford it happening a third time. Our teammate Heger is teaching us a lot because he's a really good driver. He gets through well, but it's not just luck. He knows how to manage his pace and for a rookie he's doing this really well. We're second, three of us fighting for the podium, first place is a bit far off but we won't give up until the last day and the last kilometre."