RALLY DAKAR 2022

Falls, resilience, returns and absences in the fifth stage of los españoles

The fifth stage of the Dakar 2022 has not had great joy for the Spanish participants. The best results have been for Santolino in motorbikes and Roma in coaches, both of which have been dropped from the first places. Joan Barreda ran even worse when she landed on her motorcycle around kilometer 250 of the special. Carlos Sainz broke the damper and lost more than an hour regarding the winner of the stage. We must also regret the abandonment of Jesús Calleja, who has shown himself to be quite disappointed with the performance of his vehicle.

Lorenzo Santolino fell outside the 'top 20' of stage 5 at 25 minutes and 39 seconds from stage winner, Italian Danilo Petrucci. However, he is satisfied with the journey in which he lost too much time and went ahead without major setbacks: «About kilometer 200 ha arrived from behind Luciano Benavides and we took them together. The relief is practically considered before entering the dunes, at kilometer 280, there was a river with a 'waypoint'. Íbamos in parallel and it has started to give ya gas, and it is not understood very well because the 'waypoint' had not been validated. He understood that it had not been validated yo, he had changed, he had been able to validate and he had lost a bit of the visual reference. We have entered the dunes and this terrain that demands a little but a high pace. He intended to take the best possible pace without taking excessive risks. I am happy with the stage. For the sake of it, we had lost too much time, which was important today».

Joan Barreda also had his best day. He lost every half hour with regard to Petrucci after falling off his motorcycle, hitting the shoulder and having to suffer to reach the goal: “He was doing, I believe, a good stage. Opening the track with a good rhythm throughout the morning, despite the lack of good visibility. We found an arena storm and it was difficult to find the reference points of the 'roadbook', casi íbamos a ciegas. Even then, we were able to get the remail without wasting too much time. After the return, about kilometer 250, but at least, we entered a river and I believe that hits the back wheel with a stone and I fell hard, hitting me on the left shoulder, on part of the collarbone. My companion Pablo Quintanilla helped me with the pie and follow. It was very hard to get to the end, especially on the dunes, but I managed it».

Nani Roma(image above) has been the best Spanish today in coaches achieving the thirteenth position of the day. He took advantage of his statements to thank the work of his mechanics and ensure that he will try to help his teammate in all possible terms: «Today is the day to thank the mechanics after the work of anoche. It was amazing to see the auto list to work again when I woke up; It's amazing that there is no way I can thank them enough. Alex and we found it a little difficult this morning, but soon we recovered the feeling of being faster and being around Sébastien every day to help him. It's not just a job where people thought when we left Jeddah, but only part of the sport and part of the BRX team can change and help to get the best result».

Laia Sanz(image above) had to comply with the best month of the day after starting the stage in a very late position. After ending the tour, the Spanish was very angry because it had been forced to take the exit in position 112. It showed criticism with the criteria adopted by the organization to determine the exit order: «We are making a great effort to be here y we are being penalized by the order of departure. It is difficult to fight under these conditions. If you are out of the top 10 and are not a priority pilot the next day, you are sentenced and dangerous. Next year we will have to pay the 15,000 euros for the inscription for the World Cup and we will become priorities».

Óscar Fuertes(image above) finished the fifth stage in position 30 to 23 minutes and 53 seconds of the best time of the day. This result allows us to recover places in the general classification and approach the objective, which is not the same as reaching the 'top 20'. The runner was quite happy on the day when his teammate, Jesús Calleja, announced his abandonment of him due to ongoing mechanical problems: “The stage has gone fantastically for good. It was a special place where there was a little at all, with a lot of stones, and where navigation was little less than impossible, especially in the final part. I believe that Diego Vallejo has today a spectacular job, because it was very difficult to find the nice track and the embroidery. The 01 Concept has also been in a magnificent state both in terms of performance and reliability. It gives you tremendous confidence. Thanks to the equipo, which is doing a spectacular job, we leave every day as if we will launch the coach and the truths that we cannot ask for more».

Autonews/Mundoquatrorodas