Benavides takes second place overall after stage three. Barreda retires

Today was quite long stage, quite similar to yesterday’s with lots of sand and many dunes. I have felt very comfortable and with a lot more confidence. I was able to push with a good pace, but it was a pity about an error just before the refueling that made me lose more than 10 minutes, but the important thing is that I was able to finish. I have good feelings, tomorrow the marathon starts and I want to do well.

Sadly the Dakar ended for me today. It had been going very well, opening the track and pushing the riders ahead. When I reached the mountains I found a lot of fog that limited my visibility. Following the directions of the roadbook and the GPS I reached a cliff, when I tried to return I saw that Walkner had also arrived, they saw me and stopped and were able to turn around, but from below it was impossible for me to climb back up. I tried to go down further and look for a route out along the ravine but it was impossible.

Today a chain tensioner came loose and I rode for a long time with the loose chain because I had not noticed. As a result, the engine casing got a bit broken and I started to lose a little oil. Luckily I realized, I tightened the chain and I was able to get assistance to repair it. I lost some time but it was that or to stay out of the race. We have some days left to make up the time.

The stage was tough. There was a lot of sand dunes and a lot of navigation. I ended up opening a lot of the stage. There was a lot of fog there. Joan went down a ravine or the wrong side of the mountain or something. I really had to go slow there. At kilometre 178 there was a really difficult waypoint which was not where it was shown in the roadbook. I spent fifteen minutes looking around for the way point and rode around for 30 kilometres. It was a bad day. We’ll have to make it up. But for me, in my mind, it’s going to be tough.

Today was a very long day. I took advantage of having a good starting position to attack. I felt comfortable with the bike, I made some navigational mistakes but in the end it was a good day. I’m happy to climb some positions in the general and I’m gaining confidence every stage. It is not bad to move up to the second position of the general on my birthday.

Today was a difficult day for the team. The Dakar ended for Joan who went down a ravine in a conflictive navigation area in a lot of fog, where he was unable to get out and was forced to retire from the race. The rest of the riders also had some navigation problems, however Kevin managed to finish third. Meanwhile, Ricky had the disadvantage of having to open the track for much of the special. Nacho had a mechanical issue - the chain came off and he had to repair it. Paulo had a good stage and is getting better and better. Now all we have to do is prepare the coming days well, especially as we now have the marathon stage.