Pau Navarro: “We talked and thought that this was one of the last stages we could win”

Dakar 2025 | Stage 8 | AL DUWADIMI > RIYADH
January 13 ^th 2025 - 16:48 [GMT + 3]

Pau Navarro took his first stage victory in the Challenger class today. The Spaniard produced the best time on stage eight, was able to resist the pressure exerted by David Zille, finishing 1’23’’ ahead of Paul Spierings. Zille, who cracked on the home stretch, finished 3’48’’ behind Navarro.  

“Today we started pretty quickly. We talked and thought that this was one of the last stages we could win. On this Dakar we’ve had a totally different strategy with different tyres and more pressure on the rods. We pushed and pushed and pushed. On some parts in the middle, we knew we were okay, but we had a lot of dust. Then, here in the dunes, we were taking it easy to avoid making mistakes, also with a lot of pressure in the tyres. We’re happy with the stage. I think we did a good job and if we win it’s great but if we don’t we’re also happy”.