Kevin Benavides is the new leader of the 2018 Dakar Rally

Today we had to overcome a stage with a lot of rain from the very first moment, with roads completely drenched. I took a tumble in a puddle and got completely soaked. I wasted a bit of time having to clean everything as I had been unable to see, but the worst thing about it was the cold chill that I felt throughout my body. It was certainly not easy. In the end, starting from first position and only losing three minutes isn’t bad.

What a storm! I got completely frozen at this stage. We caught rain on the special and mud too. I skidded a lot on the hard ground. It has not been easy, but with our attitude we managed to finish it well.

Today was worse than yesterday. The rain was pretty difficult and if we were lucky we got three and a half hours sleep. Yesterday was a long day, not with the stages, but with the liaisons and modifications, getting back to the bivouac late and going to bed late. Getting up at three in the morning Bolivia time, so it was really two in the morning... It was the hardest day so far; it wasn’t even hard riding but it was mentally fatiguing. The stage was fast; I don’t know how we lost time in the stage, it’s weird. I didn’t have any problems in the stage. I hit the water really hard and I hit my face on the dashboard. I don’t know how these guys are making up time on us and that’s difficult to swallow. There’s seven more days and we’ll push.

I am very proud because it is the first time that an Argentine rider has led the Dakar Rally. I'm very happy too, because the idea was to get as high up the rankings as possible before the rest stage, so I can not be happier. I'm a little tired, we've had rain, mud, fast roads. But I was fast and felt comfortable on the bike. Now we have a day to rest and prepare the second week.

We have to congratulate the riders for the great job they have done so far. Kevin is leading and Joan is making a great comeback. Both have fallen today in the special, without any setbacks. The other riders were also good and I do not want to say much more: we will speak in Córdoba. We had a first week of very difficult dunes with the plan to get through them as well as possible, and that's how it was, without physical or mechanical mishaps. The Japanese are working very well. Now, he has just changed the terrain, with hard stages. In Bolivia we expect rain, and in Argentina more hard and fast stages. We will try to push until the end while doing our best, but without losing concentration on the daily work.