Photo: dakar.com
Spain’s Joan Barreda Bort used to lead the general ranking of the 2015 Dakar before the ill-fated Stage 8, despite the fact that he rode a segment of the previous stage with a broken handlebar. Stage 8 however, put an early end to his lead, while severing his chances for a podium.
Problems with his bike would have probably been mended at the end of Stage 7 if only he reached his mechanics, but mishaps happened in the two marathon stages between Iquique and Uyuni, stages where no technical help is allowed from the outside.
If you believe that the torrential rain was the only weather element making life miserable for the Dakar riders, we must add that the temperatures were also close to zero Celsius (32 F) when the start of Stage 8 took place.
Esquerre, who sat in the 16th position after Stage 7 knew he was going to forfeit all his chances for a battle at the top of the ranking by helping Barreda, yet he did it, with his delay putting him in the 33th position now. Four-time Dakar winner Barreda is 24th, but the gap to the leading pack is huge. With an added 1 hour and 20 minutes of penalty, he’s more than 4 hours adrift, with zero chances to reclaim enough time.
Again, this story says more about the toughness of the Dakar Rally, a competition which is a life-changing experience even by taking part in it. Those who get past the finish line deserve our massive respect, as for the winners… their lives are stories themselves.
He received another handlebar from a Honda rider
Barreda received another handlebar from a Honda South America Rally Team rider, Argentinian Demian Guiral, but it turned out that the part did not last too long. In a true display of fair play and friendship, Israel Esquerre, one of Barreda’s HRC team mates, has actually towed his bike across the wet wilderness on the way back to Iquique.If you believe that the torrential rain was the only weather element making life miserable for the Dakar riders, we must add that the temperatures were also close to zero Celsius (32 F) when the start of Stage 8 took place.
Esquerre, who sat in the 16th position after Stage 7 knew he was going to forfeit all his chances for a battle at the top of the ranking by helping Barreda, yet he did it, with his delay putting him in the 33th position now. Four-time Dakar winner Barreda is 24th, but the gap to the leading pack is huge. With an added 1 hour and 20 minutes of penalty, he’s more than 4 hours adrift, with zero chances to reclaim enough time.
Again, this story says more about the toughness of the Dakar Rally, a competition which is a life-changing experience even by taking part in it. Those who get past the finish line deserve our massive respect, as for the winners… their lives are stories themselves.
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