– 375km of spectacular & cinematic environment
That stage was particularly pleasing the eyes. A rich tapestry of landscapes and colours that kept spectators in awe, while the competitors had a blast in what was no doubt one of the fastest special stage in this edition. However, it was worth keeping in mind that haste makes waste, especially when it came to navigating the myriad intersections that was the signature of Saudi Arabia’s Dakar!
#421 Team Galag is back into business!
After a night fixing our buggy damaged transmission, we were ready to fight again today for stage 10 heading to Bisha. When waking up, after a night that mus have been difficult for Jerome and Mika, faces out of bivouac tents were of course affected by deception, but we could clearly see that motivation was back and once dressed in racing suit, events of yesterday were behind us.
Today’s stage was fairly fast and we knew it was about to be difficult because of a late start, among the latest, meaning we had to deal with the dust raised by the competitors before us. Our guys did an incredible job overtaking many competitors to finish the stage in 11th place in our T4 class. A true performance!
Hopes are gone for a good result but performing well for the last sages of our first Dakar remains our goal for now, especially after a stage like this where we have shown once again a very decent pace compared to the best contenders! Two stages remain now and everyone is eager to finish the Dakar with honor.
Jerome de Sadeleer – Driver : « Honestly, today, after the cruel mechanical failure of yesterday, I knew it was about to be difficult in the dust. I was decided to push like never before! This results in a pleasing 11th place for this stage, it confirms our pace and I actually really enjoyed it »
Mika Metge – Navigator : « As predicted dust was our main companion today, and Jerome really handle « trafic » with a clever drive. We pushed through out the whole stage with not a single incident. We are back into business even though all hopes are gone. Two days remain and we will fight for the best special stage results. »
Cyril Neveu – Team Manager : « Knowing they will have to deal with the dust all day long was a bit scary according to my experience. I am so pleased Jerome and Mika handled it the right way, it confirms what i was thinking from day 1: our crew is fantastic. Of course we did not deserved what happened yesterday but that’s racing, we can’t forget about it. »