The fifth edition of the Dakar in Saudi Arabia promises to push man and machine harder than any of the previous ones.
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#Dakar2024
© Amaury Sport Organisation - https://www.aso.fr
More information:
https://www.dakar.com
https://www.facebook.com/Dakar
https://www.twitter.com/Dakar
https://www.tiktok.com/@dakarhttps://www.instagram.com/DakarRally
#Dakar2024
© Amaury Sport Organisation - https://www.aso.fr
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SportTranscription
00:00 [Music]
00:03 You hit your head.
00:05 No, no, it's okay. I think I'm gonna go.
00:07 [Music]
00:14 This footage of Libor Podmol contains scenes some viewers may find upsetting.
00:18 If you're squeamish in any way, please look away until you hear my voice again.
00:22 Yeah.
00:22 [Music]
00:31 Have you pain somewhere?
00:32 No, no, I think I'm alright.
00:34 No, you have too much load, too much.
00:36 [Music]
00:38 Okay.
00:38 [Music]
00:39 Take care, Russ.
00:40 Thank you very much.
00:41 [Music]
00:42 I want to go but...
00:43 [Music]
00:44 Let me stay tonight.
00:45 [Music]
00:47 Okay.
00:47 [Music]
00:48 Sit down here, please.
00:50 [Music]
00:54 [Foreign Language]
00:57 [Music]
00:59 Okay.
01:00 [Foreign Language]
01:01 Ah.
01:02 Yes.
01:03 Okay.
01:03 Thank you very much.
01:05 This is my Shichka. Thank you.
01:07 There are 78 medical staff at the Dakar along with vehicles, 7 helicopters and a plane.
01:13 It's my 8th time Dakar.
01:17 Before, I want to finish 7 times but now...
01:22 Finish.
01:24 [Music]
01:28 We didn't have to, we were in a hole so, frankly, we've been pulling the plug since the start of the race.
01:35 It's the entrance of Dakar, it's like that.
01:38 [Music]
01:43 [Music]
01:48 The sun rose as the top bikers made their way through the liaison to the start of the special.
01:53 A short but energy-sapping desert dune drive to Shibaita.
01:57 [Music]
02:01 All the short stages, you can never, like, be too relaxed.
02:04 Yeah, we just got to make sure that we keep our head today, make sure we stay upright and be at the finish
02:09 and then be ready for the next one tomorrow.
02:12 If navigation in a desolate, arid plain isn't hard enough, the organisers had missed out one cap heading from the roadbook.
02:18 Lolz.
02:19 Only 118km of special but a long road section and, of course, those damn deep dunes.
02:24 [Music]
02:28 It looks like nothing at all from up here, doesn't it? But those dunes can be 250m high.
02:34 It's bigger than France, the empty quarter, which has a population of 68 million,
02:39 and more than 50 people live in the Rubal Cali. There's simply nothing here.
02:44 I guess that's why it's called the empty quarter. You really don't want to get lost out here or break down or get stuck.
02:50 Though I think it's fair to say Yael Karchai was in a spot of bother, but what a job to get herself out of that.
02:56 And what do I do if I find myself stranded and the assistance is going to take a while?
03:00 I sit and wait, a sand angel, contemplate my fate.
03:06 Yes, they're just a bit.
03:08 We keep fighting till they kick us off.
03:12 And after Karchai proved she's the one, Konrad Dobrovski also made it out with no regrets.
03:18 Let's get to the race action now.
03:20 [Music]
03:27 The sand was super heavy. I didn't expect like this because normally it was some raining the day before.
03:36 It was not easy, but I also enjoyed. I enjoyed a lot the day.
03:40 I was riding and playing with the bikes, so it was a nice day.
03:45 The day belonged to Pablo Quintanilla.
03:47 Seventh heaven for Quintafondo means Chile have three wins from the six race days.
03:52 [Music]
04:04 I feel really good. The bike is amazing on these conditions.
04:07 I love dunes and I worked a lot with Honda the whole year with this new bike to make it really performant.
04:13 And I think on those conditions the bike is doing very well.
04:18 Like yesterday, it was a Honda one-two, but with two different riders.
04:22 They're really showing their strength in this mid part of the rally.
04:25 If these four or even five, if Skyler comes back, are all in the mix, come the Denimau of Dakar 46,
04:30 what tactics might they employ?
04:33 The Honda guys look really strong and Ross looks really strong too on the heroes.
04:38 So, yeah, we've got our work cut out for us, that's for sure.
04:43 The gaps were small today.
04:44 Toby a single second slower than Van Beveren, who was only a minute and a half down on Quinty.
04:49 The top 11 were less than five minutes apart.
04:52 [Music]
04:56 Really, really tough today, but just trying to get through one piece and Adrian was flying.
05:01 We may be focusing on the Hondas and the KTM Challenge,
05:05 but a sixth place for Ross Branch took him back to the top overall.
05:09 [Music]
05:12 Bad day for me. Luckily I just finished, but the last five Ks my bike stopped like three or four times.
05:20 Luciano's Husky spluttered and shuddered towards the end,
05:24 and the world champion stuttered, losing four and a half minutes.
05:27 Leading the original by a mottool, still Tobias Ebster, who had his penalty yesterday, reduced.
05:33 A fantastic ride from him saw him come in 10th.
05:36 [Music]
05:43 Ross Branch is back at the top of the tree then, and there are four Hondas on his tail.
05:48 [Music]
05:50 Skyler Howes makes it into the top 10 at number eight.
05:53 Welcome back, Skyler.
05:55 We are short on quantity, but high on quality when it comes to the quads.
05:59 Marcelo Medeiros with another victory.
06:02 Last night at the Toyota service, Seth Quintero's Hilux towed home.
06:10 So today didn't really go the way we wanted it to go.
06:12 Rain did a little bit of an issue at kilometer 68, but all things considered, we felt really good today.
06:17 But yeah, that's just kind of how Dakar goes, how racing goes.
06:19 You know, incidents happen, and we got eight more days to go.
06:22 So, I mean, we got plenty of time to go have some fun racing, get some championship points for not just Toyota, but for myself,
06:27 and just enjoy it. So we'll see what happens.
06:30 It seems very odd to be saying this about the Audis, but we talked about Carlos Sainz's consistency yesterday,
06:36 and today it's the same chat about Matthias Ekström. Yet another top 10 for him.
06:41 Juan Cruz Iacopini was third in the W2RC championship last year, seventh in the Dakar.
06:49 Third, though, comfortably the Argentinian's best so far this year.
06:52 He won't be bothering the scorers when it comes to the general standings at the end, though, I don't think.
06:56 Fittingly, for a day in the big dunes, it's been an up and down rally for Gerland Chichurrit.
07:01 He picked up a puncture while second on day one, and was leading stage three when his engine overheated.
07:06 He and Alex Winnock had to use all their drinking water to cool it.
07:09 No trouble today, though. He finished third in his Hilux.
07:12 Seb Loeb intentionally picked up a penalty to start further back tomorrow, but no games from NASA.
07:19 For me, there is no strategy. I was just pushing. I need to win the stage.
07:23 It doesn't matter what happens, you know, because tomorrow it's 600 kilometers.
07:29 And didn't we all know it? Alatir is back on track and on the attack.
07:34 We lost a lot of time, but that was the plan.
07:39 So we'll see tomorrow how we can catch up to some of that.
07:46 Like Loeb, Carlos Sainz wanted to be further back in the pack tomorrow.
07:49 15th today. In doing so, he lost second place overall.
07:53 But El Matador has been in enough fights, he won't take any bull from anyone.
07:57 Now, anyone who's met him will tell you Yazeed Al-Raji is a genuinely lovely guy, but nice guys don't win, right?
08:07 He's doing a pretty good job of leading this rally raid, though. Top eight every day so far.
08:11 Consistency he has, but a killer instinct? We're going to find out.
08:16 Very happy. We don't push today. We don't want to open tomorrow. That's our plan.
08:20 And when we see Loeb in the stage, we decide with Timo what you think. Slow or...
08:25 He said, no, no, go, go. I think somebody come open the stage tomorrow.
08:29 Al-Raji is now nine minutes ahead of the pack after his fourth place today.
08:33 But where's Nasser? Well, Panto season may be over, but he's behind.
08:36 And he's got a chance to win the race.
08:38 Matias Serradurri is still doing a superb job in fifth behind Sainz and Ekstrom.
08:44 It's Strictly Baldur in the T3s with a cha-cha-cha. A win in the Challengers for Chaleco from Chile.
08:51 The day went well. We really enjoyed it. It was short, but very technical.
09:00 It's the first ever time we've had a race like this.
09:03 Having equaled his personal record of four stage wins in a single Dakar,
09:08 Eric Gokcel and Aurel Mena navigated to another podium finish in Subaita.
09:12 It was third for Eric and second for AJ. Gokcel Jr. still leads a family 1-2 overall.
09:20 Xavier de Solterre edged out Yasser Seydan by 17 seconds.
09:27 To earn a second stage victory, which brings the Polaris driver back into overall contention.
09:33 One man's pain very much. Jérôme de Sadalier's gain, though.
09:36 The Swiss on the special podium. He took overall lead of the category.
09:40 The top seven are separated by just 30 minutes.
09:44 In the trucks, Martin Matic made the most of mechanical issues for
09:47 Janos van Kasteren and birthday boy Alish Loprijs to go second.
09:51 But defending champion JVK still leads by over 20 minutes.
09:55 Well, we're back in the race.
10:00 The first stage was a bit of a challenge for the two drivers.
10:03 The first stage was a bit of a challenge for the two drivers.
10:06 The first stage was a bit of a challenge for the two drivers.
10:09 The first stage was a bit of a challenge for the two drivers.
10:13 Well, we may as well have one last little Christmas reference.
10:16 As today we went dashing through the sand on a 65 horsepower bike.
10:21 Oh, the dunes we go just as fast as we like.
10:25 Oh, oh, oh.
10:28 It's an unprecedented 48 hour chrono tomorrow,
10:32 and we'll be back to sort through all the details.
10:35 We hope you join us then.
10:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]