Due to the latest rain storms, the sixth stage, the longest of this Dakar 2023 rally, a fast stretch of sand with some dunes, has been shortened by the organization, eliminating up to 100 kilometers, while the link, despite being shortened, was still very long, about 300 kilometers.
The Rieju Team riders have experienced different fortunes, Dani Nosiglia has completed a good stage, recovering time to move up in the rankings, finishing the day in 20th position, climbing to 28th place in the provisional general classification.
Pato Cabrera is definitely earning his trophy of the youngest Legend in the history of the Dakar, the Chilean enjoys each of the stages like no one else, today as always, he enjoyed riding on sandy and fast terrain, somewhat less demanding, to finish 41st and climbs to 48th overall.
Also, Diego Llanos has faced the stage without setbacks, to finish 33rd and 13th in his Rally2 category. Diego is out of the overall standings, but he is still determined to finish the Dakar, improving his results day by day.
Sandra has been the unlucky one on the team today. If yesterday she made an excellent performance in the fifth stage, drastically improving her classification and placing herself as leader among women, today Sandra has experienced bitterness early in the morning, in the liaison stage the rider realized that her bike was losing oil, looking to solve this breakdown she lost many minutes, arriving out of time to start the special, so the organization did not allow her to start the stage.
#54 Dani Nosiglia:
"A very long stage, more than thirteen hours on the bike, 900 kilometers, it has been super long for us, a very complete stage, very happy with how the whole stage went, I was able to get into the top 20 and I felt comfortable on the bike and the whole day has been positive for me."
#56 Sandra Gómez:
"I had mechanical problems in the liaison, I was able to solve them, but I was delayed, exceeding the time allowed for the track, so I could not do the special."
#29 Diego Llanos:
"I just finished another tough stage, yesterday I had some problems, a fall, then I was without water, but in the end, we made it through the day, I'm happy, the bike is going well. Now we have a long link to the paddock and we need to prepare everything for tomorrow to face a new stage."
#35 Patricio Cabrera:
"Today I felt very comfortable in the sand, I had been enjoying a lot, a long day. I have already finished the special, now I have about 300 kilometers of liaison to finish the day, but I am very happy to have finished, I feel fit and strong to face the next days of racing."
For the seventh stage on Saturday, the organization has decided, with the intention of gaining time to see if the state of the terrain battered by the rains improves, that the rally's caravan will first take the route planned for stage eight, with a total of 667 kilometers (333 of special stage), exchanging it with stage seven, which will be ridden on Sunday.
*It is important to note that due to the fact that the classifications suffer last-minute changes by the organization, these may differ from those published.