After six intense and complex stages with up to eight days of competition, the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia has reached its well-deserved and necessary rest day for the ALL1/Rieju riders and their team.
The fifth stage of the Dakar Rally seemed to be a mere formality after the riders got through the marathon stage, considering that the special stage was only 118km long through the dunes. The problem came because the ALL1 riders, supported by RIEJU, had slept very little the night before, in a basic bivouac and in the beech trees with the noise caused by the other competitors, all on a very cold night. They woke up very early in the morning to drive 527km on a straight road... 5 boring hours on a motorbike in the direction of Shubaytah.
Luckily, all the team members made it through the special stage, reaching the bivouac, with Josep Pedró and Josep Martí finishing in 42nd and 43rd position respectively. But some of them had little strength left, very tired and even with low morale. During the stage, problems with Xavier Pes's bike, whose rear fuel pump had failed, despite this, Carlos gave him fuel, then they got lost, but the arrival at the dunes revived them intensely as they were able to enjoy surfing them and also managed to finish.
The following day came the novel but dreaded 48-hour time trial, possibly the most important stage of the Dakar 2024, with a total distance of 835km, entirely between the sea of dunes of the Empty Quarter, completed in two days.
The joy is tremendous among the five members of ALL1 after finishing the double stage, overcoming very high dunes, with a soft sand that was physically very tiring, they all arrived at the long-awaited rest day on Saturday, where the physios have tuned their bodies and the mechanics have tuned their bikes. Josep Pedró is in 50th place overall, followed by Josep Martí in 51st, Javier Amat in 67th, Carlos LLibre in 78th and Xavier Pes in 86th.
Carlos Llibre:
"It's been a week that hasn't spared us a single kilometre, but we're in good shape. It's been much heavier than we expected, we have worked hard for it, the hardness is physical but also very mental, the good thing is that we are a great team and everyone is having fun all day and that's what gives you life when you get to the camp.
We look at Alex's wish number 5, this is what pulls you and makes you give your last drop in every effort, in every stage, when physically you have nothing left in your brain, no water, no petrol, it's for Alex, for us....
The motivation of each one is different, when two have been low the others have pushed, if two failed more, the others have been pushing all of us.
When we started the ALL1 project there was a very clear premise, we needed financial support to get there, but ALL1 has a decency and not for all the money in the world would we work with companies that did not share our values and when you write your letter to the Three Kings you think about who you would like to be with, and Rieju is a home brand, a family brand that we have lived with since we were kids, we have enjoyed their previous Dakars. We never imagined that being an amateur team, we would now be the flagship team of this brand and when suddenly the opportunity arises for us, it is a source of pride to think that for them we are a way for the brand and for the people behind it, who are some cracks".
Josep Pedró:
" We've been a few days in the Empty Quater stiff from the internet, but here we are! After a few little adventures in the dunes, we are still at our best to face this incredible race. Now it's time to freshen up and come back with everything we've got. Now our Dakar really begins!
It's a tremendous joy when my teammates arrive, the truth is that yesterday I met Pepe on the stage, and it's another movie, to meet them during the special is a luxury, I'm happy that Pepe is having a higher pace and meet him in the refueling and in the links, it changes the race completely, and see them arrive knowing that we're all here and we're still in the race is a luxury, In fact we miss Fer a lot, the six of us have been working together for two years, to get this far and the personality of each one of us is needed in the team, we're used to each one having a role and we're missing a leg of this team, but well, we're still here, we dedicate these stages to Fer, because if it hurts anyone not to be here it's him, but the rest of us are fine, we're finishing stages".
The ALL1 drivers, supported by RIEJU, are halfway through the rally, with 2,384 kilometres of special stages still to be completed over varied terrain, on their journey to the dream finish in Yanbu.
