Having reached the rest day of the 2023 Dakar, the Rieju Team is taking the opportunity to recharge its batteries after eight intense stages in what has been the toughest Dakar to date in Saudi Arabia.
Taking a look back at this first part of the rally, out of the four team riders who started the rally, three of them are still in the race. Remember that driver Sandra Gómez, while she was leading the women's category and climbing positions in the overall standings, was forced to abandon after arriving late at the start of the sixth stage due to a technical issue that couldn't be fixed in time, leaving her out of the rally. After this mishap, Sandra decided to give up and return home to recover physically, as she had only recently returned to competition after suffering from mononucleosis. We wish her all the best and a speedy recovery.
DANIEL NOSIGLIA:
For Daniel Nosiglia it is not being an easy Dakar, he started the competition ranking 17th in the provisional general classification after the first stage, but the Bolivian has been suffering a series of mishaps that have prevented him from being in the top 20. Daniel has a good chance and is eager to climb positions in the second half of the rally.
Ranking: Provisional overall: 28th / RallyGP: 19th
Declarations:
"It has been a super difficult week for me, I have had many many problems that have delayed me greatly, and obviously have complicated my fight for the goal of a good result, but well, I have to be very happy to have reached the rest day and to have arrived after all the problems I've had. At some point I thought I wouldn't be able to make it and that I would be out of the race, but well, we are still here and very happy about it. The Dakar has given us a very hard week in every way, physically and mentally, they have been very long days. Now the truth is that I feel very good, physically 100%, I feel strong and we will face the second week in the same way, taking advantage of the fact that we are still in the race and we will give it our all.
DIEGO LLANOS:
The rider Diego Llanos, before starting the Dakar 2023 had the clear goal of finishing the rally and this is just what he is currently fighting for. Diego, until the 4th stage was in a magnificent 2nd place in Rally2 and 22nd overall, but bad luck caused him and several other riders to suffer the consequences of the poor state of the fuel that caused several breakdowns. The Argentinean's bike stopped working after the refueling of the fourth stage and he spent several hours trying to repair it to be able to continue, but he had no choice but to withdraw from the competition. Despite this, Llanos is still in the rally and with his desire to finish the toughest edition of the Saudi Dakar.
Statements:
"At the beginning we started with good sensations, fighting for some places at the front in the overall and in my Rally2 category, until the fourth stage, where I had a mechanical problem due to gasoline and I had to abandon, but well, the next day we rejoined the race and we are putting up a fight, trying to do stages as far ahead as possible, not so much thinking about a good result in the overall but stage by stage. Now that we have the rest day, the body is ready to face the second part of the rally, so we'll try to have a good week with some stages ahead, we'll try to go for those".
PATRICIO CABRERA:
Patricio Cabrera set off this year with the intention of achieving an important record, proclaiming himself, at just 32 years of age, the youngest Legend rider in the history of the Dakar. The Chilean rider is completing a perfect rally, the tougher the conditions, the more he grows, being a great example of attitude in the face of adversity for all those around him.
Ranking: Provisional overall: 43rd / Rally2: 21st
Statements:
"Hello friends! We are here in Saudi Arabia on the rest day. This week was amazing, I felt very comfortable. I think that for a couple of years the Dakar had lost the adventure of what this race means and now we have regained it, very cold days, storms, rain ... very exhausting physically, psychologically you have to be very strong and this is my forte. The truth is that I have felt extremely well, comfortable, very well physically, enjoying, happy, and happy that the Dakar has once again recovered this essence that is so important for us. For me it was a tremendous first week, I hope it continues to be just as hard and that we can continue with this pace. I'm in a very good position, 21st in my category, 43rd overall, it's great to reach the halfway point in this position. So I hope to continue to climb up the leaderboard. So I hope to continue climbing in the overall standings in the next week, the bike is going perfectly, the Rieju team has been incredible, and the mechanics have been great, today they have to work a lot, they are putting the bike together, so for my part, everything is perfect.”
Statement fromMiquel García, manager of the Rieju Team:
"It has been a very hard week physically and mentally, both for the riders and for the crew, we are noticing that this Dakar is much harder than in previous years. As far as the riders are concerned, we haven't suffered any serious breakdowns, but we have had some small problems that the riders have had to repair in the middle of the special stage. The assistance also suffered a lot of kilometers and especially in the last two days, we have been very cold, like the riders, with the rain, arriving late at night, very dangerous and very tiring for everyone.
Now we are in the rest stage, repairing the bikes and making sure they are at 100% to be able to face these remaining days with confidence, so that no inconveniences that could cause the riders and the assistance team to suffer once again happen. We will work on the bikes until the last minute and then we are going to pack everything up because we are changing camps, they will have a marathon stage. We face this next week with a lot of enthusiasm, with these three riders who are very motivated and with a positive mentality. It is very important for everyone to try to get these three bikes to the end of the Dakar".
