It was an important, good stage for us today. Martim had some problems with the road book tablet, it stopped working so he didn’t know if he’d passed the waypoints or not. Without a replacement he had to wait for other riders so he could ride as part of a group to the end of the stage and they reduced his time at the end so he ended up finishing in second. Preston did a good job again, bringing  the bike to the finish in 4th place.  This is the first time that both riders have come to the Dakar and it’s been an impressive showing from them. Preston is second overall, really close to first, so we’ll see if he can close the gap tomorrow. If he doesn’t, it’s still a great result for him.

I’m happy to finish and be at the bivouac. The stage went really well until 240 km into it I had the same tablet issues as yesterday, so I had to stop and wait for the other riders behind me. I wanted to gain some time after refuelling but I couldn’t, so I had to go with them until the end because there was no point in changing the tablet. I’m happy with my performance and just one day to go, my first Dakar is almost finished.

The stage was good, I had a lot of fun on this one, I liked the speed of it in the rocks and then on the short dune sections and in the nice valleys. It was a really fun flow and I was happy with my ride today, everything went good. I’m super happy with my two weeks at the Dakar, I think it’s gone pretty well, lots of learning, lots of improvements and overall, super stoked to be able to be in the position I’m at and looking forward to more. The best thing I’ve learned is the days are long and anything can happen, at the next corner, the next note, something can completely change the race, for better or for worse. You’ve always got to stay positive and just push forward.