Second consecutive day with red flag: shortened stage, desire to ride a motorcycle but more rest, more time to check the bikes.
Albert Martín and Isaac Feliu achieve their best stage result and Carles Falcón continues in his constant line on the Dakar.

For the second day in a row the red flag stopped a stage of the Dakar early. According to the organization, the heavy rains in recent days combined with the passage of cars, SSVs and trucks yesterday on the route that the motorcycles had to do today, has meant that the safety of the riders was not guaranteed. There have been several pilots with important falls since the roadbook did not have the dangers marked correctly with the changes in the terrain. Thus, the stage stopped at km 101, when there were still 300 to go.

Albert Martín enters the top50 of the stage

Today’s stage left Albert Martín halfway through: “a part of me was sad because I felt comfortable, I was overtaking riders, I was going at a good pace, without risking and without making mistakes. But having a stage of several km taken away from you also has its positive side, we have arrived at the bivouac earlier and we will have more time to check the bikes and rest. ” And the positive part goes further, because in the shortest stage to date the young rider from Valls has achieved his best stage result on this Dakar and has entered the top50. He was the 46th fastest rider of the day and with it, he continues to climb positions in the general classification, already occupying 58th. In addition, in his original category, he again sets the 7th best time, and regains the 8th position.

Keeping the rhythm before the rest stage

“I think it was my best 100km of the race. It was going very well, I passed a lot of people – it is also true that today I started from more backward positions -, the broken sections I have overcome well on the outside, I was comfortable, fresh. I only had one crash at km 94 because I got into a big car rut and I came out ahead of the bike ”. With these good feelings after reaching the bivouac they coincide with the time and today, TwinTrail owner Isaac Feliu finished 68th, his best stage result. With this, he continues in his usual positions just before the rest day and occupies the 71st position of the general.

The red flag penalizes the strategy of Carles Falcón

As mentioned above, Carles Falcón is the team rider who thinks the most about managing energy and strength to reach the end of the Dakar in good condition. “Today was a very long stage and it was also expected to be very broken, a lot of stone and a broken road. I started calmly, carefully on the ruts, dodging and looking for a good line ”, so this strategy has penalized him with the red flag at kilometer 100. If he had known, he would not have been so conservative. But in the end, this Dakar is a rally of many days, we are right in the middle and there is still a lot at stake. The Tarragona rider finished the stage 84th and was 17th among the Originals.

Rest stage, or not

Tomorrow comes the rest stage of the Dakar, the one in which the riders can take the opportunity to sleep a little more and relax their bodies. But for the riders in the Original by Motul category it is something different, since they have to work on the bike and get it ready for the second week of the Rally. Isaac Feliu explains that “in addition to doing the maintenance that we always do after each stage (oil change and oil filter), we are going to look at everything that may be susceptible to breaking: drive kit, chain, change the injector, review hardware, change the coolant, check that the cables are not stripped, the skid that is worn, the bearings, grease the swingarm and the connecting rods. All with much more affection than normally there is no time ”. All this will be a day of about 5 hours at least. The positive part is that today, having arrived much earlier than they would have to at the bivouac, they have been able to begin to carry out all the maintenance tasks.

PHOTOS

Results Stage 6

1. #004 Daniel Sanders (AUS)  0:51:43

2. #003 Sam Sunderland (GBR)   0:54:09 GAP +2:26 

3. #052 Matthias Walkner (AUT)  0:54:19 GAP +2:36 

46. #136 Albert Martin (ESP)   1:07:34 GAP +15:51

68. #134 Isaac Feliu (ESP)  1:15:00 GAP +23:17 

84. #135 Carles Falcón (ESP)  1:19:07 GAP +27:24

Results General 

1. #003 Sam Sunderland (GBR)     19:55:59

2. #052 Matthias Walkner (AUT)   19:58:38 GAP +2:39

3. #004 Daniel Sanders (AUS)  20:01:34 GAP +5:35

59. #136 Albert Martin (ESP)   26:20:20 GAP +6:24:21

71. #134 Isaac Feliu (ESP)  27:30:48 GAP +7:34:49

78. #135 Carles Falcón (ESP)  28:11:52 GAP +8:15:53

Results Original Motul Stage 6:

1. #123 Charan Moore(ZAF)   1:01:18 

2. #115 John Kelly   1:01:53 GAP +0:35

3. #036 Arunas Gelazninkas (LTU)  1:03:02 GAP +1:44

7. #136 Albert Martin (ESP)   1:07:34 GAP +6:16

12. #134 Isaac Feliu (ESP)  1:15:00 GAP +13:42

17. #135 Carles Falcón (ESP)  1:19:07 GAP +17:49  

Results Original General:

1. #036 Arunas Gelazninkas (LTU)  21:46:45

2. #021 Milan Engel (CZE)   22:35:06 GAP +48:21

3. #123 Charan Moore(ZAF)   22:57:19 GAP +1:10:34

9. #136 Albert Martin (ESP)   26:20:20 GAP +4:33:35 

14. #134 Isaac Feliu (ESP)  27:30:48 GAP +5:44:03

17. #135 Carles Falcón (ESP)  28:11:52 GAP +6:25:07