The 13th stage of the 2023 Dakar was held between Sheybah and Al-Hofuf, with a total of 675 kilometers, 521 of liaison and 154 of special stage. At first glance, this special stage, being short, seemed easy, but instead the riders were faced with a physically demanding route, with the first part of navigation quite difficult. Now the participants have completed the last kilometers of the Empy Quarter, with soft dunes, some steep sections and traps that made it difficult to maintain a high pace.
Daniel Nosiglia started very motivated this morning thanks to his good results in the last stages, but a technical problem before the start of the special stage forced the Bolivian to withdraw from the competition when he was 26th in the provisional general classification of the Dakar and 18th in the Rally GP classification. With this hard setback for the whole team, which is like a family, the magnificent progress that Daniel had been making in the last few days comes to an end.
On the other hand, Diego Llanos preferred warm up well today after hitting his hand yesterday, with the intention of improving his mark, but avoiding any risks. The Argentinean driver managed to finish 27th best driver of today's stage and 10th in his Rally2 category. It's a pity that a 4-minute penalty at the last minute made Llanos drop to 32nd position of the day and 15th in Rally2.
Formidable Patricio Cabrera finishes the stage 50th and moves up again in the general standings to 37th place. Let's remember that Pato is a few kilometers away from becoming the youngest driver in history to be Legend, a challenge that the Chilean more than deserves, for his always positive attitude and his great will to always make an effort. Tomorrow, if all goes well, he will climb the final podium accompanied and supported by the entire Rieju Team.
Daniel Nosiglia:
"It has been a super sad day for me, super difficult. In truth, facing the fact that I'm being left out of the Dakar because of a technical problem and in this way, has been incredibly hard. I feel great impotence, it's been a very difficult Dakar, and every day we've had things happen to us, but it has been really hard to face this moment. This made me incredibly eager to finish it, I had the desire to reach the finish line and fulfill this goal, but a good result could not be achieved because of the problems of the first days. But the Dakar is like that, there's a reason why it's the Dakar, many things happen, there may be many problems, but what we are sure of is that things always happen for a reason, and from these kinds of things you learn a lot, you grow as an athlete, you grow as a person and after all sometimes that is much more important than a result or a personal goal, because often much bigger goals than we can imagine may come later. Really grateful to God and the whole team that has given everything to make things go well and to all the people who have always supported me."
Diego Llanos:
"Today was a very short stage, 154 kilometers of special, but with 521 of liaison. I felt comfortable throughout the stage, I tried to go from less to more, getting into the rhythm because of the blow I had yesterday, to warm up my hand well. So not much to say, I did a good stage without taking any risks and reached the paddock in good conditions to face the last stage tomorrow."
Patricio Cabrera:
"I felt very comfortable throughout the special, 100% sand, a very difficult terrain, I had a navigation error but nothing serious, the important thing is that I arrived well and healthy, already waiting for the last day of the rally. This is one of the toughest Dakars I have competed in during these ten years. I'm in the lock park, I'm feeling great and now it's time to prepare for tomorrow."
On the 14th stage, the last of this Dakar, Al-Hofuf - Dammam, 417 kilometers, a 281-kilometer liaison and the 136-kilometer beach special, the riders will start in reverse order from the general rankings. There is very little left for the end of the 2023 Dakar but anything can happen before you cross the finish line.
*It is important to note that due to the fact that the classifications suffer last-minute changes by the organization, these may differ from the ones we publish.
