Ross Branch: “Ricky is riding an amazing race”

Dakar 2024 | Stage 11 | ALULA > YANBU
January 18 ^th 2024 - 14:19 [GMT + 3]

Ross Branch won his 2nd stage of the year after his victory on stage 1. He has finished ahead of Brabec and Van Beveren, the other two strong men of this year's race, but was unable to make any significant inroads on Brabec, while staying clear of Van Beveren.

“It was way better than last year’s same stage. I enjoyed it, it was good fun. For sure, it was a tough stage and really, really rocky all the time, but I enjoyed it and tried to put the hammer down. I think I’ve left it a little bit too late. Ricky is riding an amazing race and he deserves to be where he is. We’ve just got to keep on fighting and see what we can do for tomorrow, for the last day. I definitely lost time in the camel grass. I’ve got a bit of work to do in the camel grass and the off-piste stuff. I’m just not confident and fast enough there. I know where I’ve lost it and it gives me motivation to go home and I’ll have another year to work on it. First thing on the list is going to find some camel grass and doing some training there. It’s always good knowing you’ve got somebody behind you with the same bike, if there’s something that you need then they’re there quickly, but I don’t think it changed the race, I don’t think it changed the strategy. We just gave it our best all day, every day and I’m proud of the team, they’ve worked so hard. Just to finish is going to be a big bonus for us. If we can get on that podium that will be really cool for all of us. They’ve worked really hard and I take my hat of to them, with the endless hours they’ve done. I’ve also worked hard and to everybody back home, for all the support, it’s been incredible. There’s one more day to go, 180 km of the Dakar 2024, so let’s enjoy it. I’m not too sure of the times, I’m not too sure of what happened to Nacho. You know, we don’t get on the bike to finish second. So, we’ll give it our all and hope for the best”.