Monster Energy Honda Team leads as the Dakar Rally heads into the final stretch

Today was definitely tough. We started third. We all had a long day today – there were 465 kilometres – that’s a long day for the navigation and it’s a long day in the desert. Unfortunately, Toby had gone down and I stopped for him for about 20 minutes. I was just waiting for the helicopter to get there. It’s a shame. He was definitely up there, fighting for the win. It happens. Every morning when we put our gear on, things like this can happen and we know it. It’s just the risk that we are willing to take. Unfortunately, the second week is going to be brutal. Last year we came here first, then we ended in the sand dunes. It was smooth. But this year we are starting in the dunes and finishing in the rocks and the rough, bumpy traces and river-beds. This week you don’t want to sleep too much. You want to stay focused. There’s three days left, but look what happened today with a few riders. Three days left and a lot can happen still. We are just going to try and stay focused and make it to the finish-line.

Today was a really tough stage, with many rocks and it was very long. I started first and the idea was to open as fast as possible so that the riders wouldn’t be able to cut down the time. Toby Price who came out behind me and was battling with me in the general standings, unfortunately fell. This is news that we never want to hear, that one of the guys has been injured - hopefully it is nothing serious. As far as the stage went, I opened throughout the entire special, which was very long and mentally tough. I didn't drip a lot of time so I'm very happy with today's job. There is less and less distance until the end. Now it’s time to rest and focus on tomorrow's stage.

We can say that today was a really hard special stage. Today, it is a year ago since the death of my friend Paulo Gonçalves. I aimed to do the best possible stage and this victory is dedicated to him. I'm happy with the job done, but I also have a mixed emotions as at the end of the stage I found out that my brother had fallen and got injured. I found out that he's fine, so that has calmed me down, but it's been a strange day nevertheless. There are three more days left and everything could change, so you have to be focused and give your all on a day-to-day basis.

Today was a very tough day and a very difficult, dangerous stage. I think I was doing quite well at the beginning but I fell in a hazardous area and took a blow to the leg. It is a strong hit, but I able or reach the end of the stage, which was important. Let’s see how the day goes tomorrow, as the Dakar is far from over: there are still three days left.