Yesterday, what seemed to begin as a surprise rest day, turned out not to be, as in the end, the riders had to complete 450 kilometers of liaison, although without a timed special stage, as it was canceled by the organization. Upon arrival at the bivouac, there was no mechanical assistance as it was a marathon-type stage.
Today was again a very long stage, the 8th, from Al Duwadimi to Riyadh, a total of 822 km, 346 km of special stage, and 476 km of liaison divided into two sections. The terrain consisted of fast tracks, dunes, and areas with many wet and slippery stones, with difficult navigation, in addition to the fog in some sections that reduced the visibility of the riders.
Daniel Nosiglia finished 27th in the stage and is still in 28th place in the general standings. The Bolivian rider lost several minutes today to solve a technical problem caused by the impact of a stone against his bike, but despite this, Daniel completed the stage among the top thirty.
Good day for Patricio Cabrera who continues his strong and solid upward streak, the Chilean rider finished the stage with the 38th best time and climbs to 43rd place overall.
The Argentinean Diego Llanos had a brilliant start on the stage, but after the refueling, he lost a bolt from the chain tensioner and lost an hour looking for it. Diego finishes 63rd on the stage and 39th on Rally2.
Daniel Nosiglia:
"The truth is that I am very happy, it has been a very hard week and we were able to get to the rest day. I had a mechanical problem when I hit a rock with the chain guide and this caused my chain to come off, I spent several minutes trying to put it back on until I was able to fix it, then I tried to put the chain guide on properly so it wouldn't come off again. Thank God we are finally here, super cold, the truth is that we have had a very hard time this week, but I think it has really been very meritorious to get to the rest day."
Patricio Cabrera:
"We just finished stage number eight, I felt super good and comfortable throughout the day, I really enjoyed this stage, I had a great time on the bike and I'm very happy to have reached the rest day of this Dakar rally that is being very hard. Now I have to prepare the bike for the second half of the rally. Today was a good stage for me, I really enjoyed it and I'm feeling very positive to face the second part of the rally, I feel physically strong, so let's go for it! !!!!".
Diego Llanos:
"I went out pushing from the start, I came with a good pace until kilometer 100 and then I slowed down a bit. I knew I was doing well because I was cutting time on Dani and Joan Pedrero who had gained about 20 minutes ahead of me. I left the refueling and after 10km I had a problem, I lost a nut of the rear wheel chain tensioner top, I was about an hour until some Arabs with whom I became friends helped me find it, thanks to them we found it and we could make an invention to be able to continue. But well, we were able to finish one more day, it was hard, 400-odd kilometers, but I'm happy to be here. I am very grateful to the whole team that when I stopped they didn't hesitate for a moment and called me on the phone and came to pick me up to try to solve the problem. Now we have to rest and think about next week".
Tomorrow is the long-awaited rest day for all the riders after completing eight grueling stages. The participants who have managed to overcome the endless kilometers, the weather, and the harshness of the Dakar in this first part of the rally, can now start dreaming about their chances of reaching the finish line of the Dakar 2023.
*It is important to note that due to last-minute changes made by the organization, the rankings may differ from those published.
