edgar canet Arriving at the bivouac AlUla Having passed the difficult test of opening the course above all by taking second place on a complicated stage full of stones, he then accompanied his teammate Saunders to the finish line, happy and content. pilot of Gariga He finished second overall, 30 seconds behind the Australian, and was very happy with his results on the day, despite suffering two crashes.

The first point was a dry river at 80 km. There he spotted a camel and decided to outrun it. But in that movementgot caught on a stone and fell to the ground. Fortunately, there were no consequences. He then assured Spanish reporters at the camp that nothing had been done. “Just a wound”but the fall made him anxious. And when he tried to transfer gasoline from the front tank to the rear to change the weight of the motorcycle (the KTM has two tanks), he was surprised by another stone. The aircraft collided nose-first with the Road Book Tower and fell to the ground. As a result, my lips became swollen. “I kissed a bike. A little Botox won’t hurt,” he said with a laugh, vowing that what happened today would help him learn if a similar situation repeats itself. Perfect and overall, 2nd overall and 2nd in the starting order for stage 3 and ready to keep fighting.right behind new leader Sanders, is difficult to navigate.

Stage overview

“To tell you the truth, I was very happy with the way it felt. I was able to open the track at a very good pace from the beginning. I crashed at about 85km. There was a camel in the middle of the track, so I tried to get it out of the way so it wouldn’t get in the way. But obviously, when I was riding fast and hit a rock, I fell, but nothing was wrong. I got up. It was a scratch, but in five seconds I was down. So I got back on the bike and lost focus from there. ”

“It took me a while to find that rhythm while sailing. And I had a second fall into the river in a stony area. It’s not that you’re overdoing it, but the terrain is very treacherous. It’s your first time going through it… then it can happen. Stones get hard in quotes, like when 10 bikes go by. And today I didn’t take that into account and waited a little bit. I just got into a very safe rhythm.” Sanders: I pushed again from there and had a very good pace again until the end. 2nd overall, so you can’t ask for anything more.

“Tomorrow Saunders opens the track and I’m second. If I catch him, I’ll be able to do a similar stage as today. So I’m happy with the feeling and I want to keep gaining more and more experience and a better feeling on the bike.”

Did you get scared when you fell?

“No…you already know a little bit when you’re about to fall…When I see a stone, I say, ‘Shit!'” But I was able to save her in the end. Let me tell you, it’s nothing, it’s just a scratch. And the bike is the same, it has scratches, so I change it for tomorrow, put on a new shirt… and it’s like new.

swollen lips

“Yes, I kissed the bike for the first time today. I ended up eating and not doing anything because I was concentrating on reading the road book. I’ll probably be fine with a little Botox for tomorrow’s stage. That was when I crashed for the second time. When I got into the river there were quite a few stones and I was changing fuel from front to back so I lost concentration a bit. Rizu, I couldn’t see them and the roadbook hit me and then I fell down. These things happen, that’s it and we keep going. One thing is not to overtake a camel in the middle of a river at 120km/h and when you touch something on the bike, focus 100% on where you’re going.

open track

“Of course, I’ve been learning, you understand. But at the end of the day, these things always happen. I wish I had left the stage today, but they told me I would have finished second. So I can’t ask for anything more. I’m very happy with the pace and the feel of the course opening up. Tomorrow will be a very long stage, so try to be as focused as today, and I’m sure it will be a good stage as well.”

Strategy and the open road

“We have very good pace as we open the track, so it also adds up to this bonus that the organization gives (the time given to drivers who open the track). That’s why Saunders and I won today. So if I can repeat it a little bit tomorrow, Saunders took me today. If I can take Saunders tomorrow and get this bonus, he could be a bit of a ‘game changer’ in this Dakar.”

Saunders grabbed him and pulled him out of the navigation lane.

“He was moving forward. The truth is, he’s the plane that opens the runway. So, I concentrated as much as I could and when he got lost or strayed, I tried to catch up quickly to a good runway. And then he looked at me and brought that pace back to full speed and that’s what we did until the end. We’re both happy, so I can’t ask for anything more.”

Marathon Stage (Stage 4 and 5) Strategy

“Today my tires are at their limit. So if I can be a little bit safer without pushing on the marathon stage, that’s better. Today my tires are already at their limit, so I have to take that into account. There are a lot of stones and I’m pushing, so there’s a lot of wear on the wheels, so I have to take that into account as well. What’s the strategy? It’ll be the same as today. Saunders caught me today. Tomorrow I’m going to catch Saunders and open both tracks and open up the track.” The end.

Best regards to Honda

“Yes, I think we had Luciano Benavidez as well today. We lost a little bit of time at the end because of the tires, but he’s there too. I mean, we’re very happy with the performance. To tell you the truth, we haven’t seen them on the track yet. I mean, yeah, no offense, but we haven’t seen them. Yesterday we caught Ricky (Brabec) a little bit at the end, but we haven’t seen the others.”

Pilot compared to last year

“Obviously, I’m more confident, more than comfortable. I’m pushing the same way I did last year, trying to do the same things, but I’m getting much better results. So that’s the main thing: Feeling safe and going at my fastest speed. And it’s about continuing to learn.”