Skyler Howes: “It was a cool feeling and I’m super proud

Dakar 2022 | Stage 3 | AL DUWADIMI > AL SALAMIYA
January 4 ^th 2022 - 12:31 [GMT + 3]

American Skyler Howes, who played it tactically like Nacho Cornejo during the qualifying special, is starting to come to the forefront after three stages.

“Well, today was the first time that in my life that I’ve opened the track on the Dakar rally. It was a cool feeling and I’m super proud of the way I navigated. It wasn’t exactly perfect, but I did a pretty good job and I’m happy with this. I started fourth on the track and I crossed the line physically first, so yes, this was a really cool day. The track was fun – it was a lot of fast tracks with dunes. Man, today was a good day – I got to ride in the group. There were some tricky notes out there, some hidden way points that were difficult to find, but luckily we got them all and reached the finishing line safely. Man, I had a great day on the dirt bike with my buddies. I wouldn’t say I pushed to the maximum today. I rode what I thought was a comfortable pace, though the pace is really high now on the Dakar, it’s almost like a sprint race. So, if you don’t push every day you’re going to be off the pace. So, today I rode, I would say, fairly conservatively, but still within my means. So, to open the track and still hold a comfortable pace is really cool, I’m proud of it. It’s really cool to be on the pace. I mean, last year I was on a rental bike as a privateer and now I’m here on a factory Husqvarna competing against the best in the world so it’s really cool. At the end of the day, we’re all dirt bike riders, whether you get to do it for a living or not, and we’re just lucky to be here in Saudi Arabia racing”.