Enjoying the Dakar Race Is Hard
My stories / 9. March 2016
“I think that the first ones all competed. Toby Price perhaps enjoyed the last two stages, when he had a half hour headstart and no one to threaten him as long as he didn’t make a mistake. But I think that even he couldn’t do so because he won for the first time. Stéphane Peterhansel, who has won Dakar 12 times, 6 times in a car and 6 times on motorcycle, can enjoy the ride. To him it doesn’t matter whether he won 12 or 13 times. But everyone has a goal they want to attain. For me it was mentally the hardest Dakar because if I had dropped out, I wouldn’t have ever achieved what I could.”
The racers can ride without stress in the non-measured sections. But even there they can’t properly enjoy it.
“In the unmeasured sections you are wishing for it to be finally over. By the time you finish the phase you’re tired and you need to handle another 400 km. You are riding and the sun is blazing for 5-6 hours. Tired, I count down and recall where I made mistakes and think about where I lost a minute in vain.”
