“My priority is to see my family at the finish line.”

On the 2021 Dakar the ex-FIM Junior Cross-Country Rallies world champion Maciej Giemza was getting close to the top 10 and everything was going according to plan until a hidden rock on stage 9 put him out of the race with torn shoulder ligaments and a broken foot. Back in 2022 for his sixth year he was having an excellent first stage, running at the front with the factory riders. Unfortunately, that was the stage where many of them got lost and Maciej was no exception. Stage 4 didn’t go at all according to plan either, with the Orlen Team rider finishing in a lowly (for him) 39th place. After that things went much better, with a best stage result of 8th place on Day 10 to finish a highly respectable 18th overall. Hoping to capitalise on that performance Maciej attacked the 2023 event with plenty of ambition but unfortunately crashed out on stage 2 and then spent the next two and half months getting bike fit again. After that disappointment the Polish Orlen rider is prioritising a finish for 2024.

“In 2023 I crashed at around km 100 and hurt my shoulder. I took some pain killers and carried on for maybe another 100 kilometres and it was just too painful so I called for a helicopter. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do any big races after that in 2023 which is never ideal. My goal for Dakar 2024 is above all to see my family at the finish line.”