The second part of the 48-hour time trial was a bit of a cold shower for Isidre Esteve. The Repsol Toyota Rally Team lost 2 hours and 45 minutes due to a transmission failure on Monday, January 6. After having set off early in the morning and having covered about 100 kilometers (about 700 of the 967 total), the Toyota Hilux T1+ with the colors of Repsol, MGS Seguros and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Spain occupied an extraordinary 25th provisional position in the stage, until the Dakar has once again shown why it is the toughest race in motorsport.
Although co-driver Txema Villalobos was able to solve the problem en route and the Spanish team was able to reach the Bisha bivouac, the timekeeper was relentless: with 15 hours and 55 minutes accumulated over two days to cover the 967 timed kilometers of the longest stage of the Dakar, the Repsol Toyota Rally Team has been classified 81st (43rd in Ultimate) and had to say goodbye to the possibility of signing a stage to mark and climb a good stretch in the general classification.
Isidre Esteve explains what happened: “Yesterday we had an incredible stage: we started 70th and reached kilometer 600 [the point where they stopped for the night] in 24th position. Today we started well, but at kilometer 700 we broke the primary axle bearing. The car was vibrating a lot and we couldn't go on like that at all. Txema repaired it, but we lost several hours”.
The driver from Oliana, aware of the intrinsic hardness of the Dakar, has taken the blow with serenity. “We were able to repair, we're here and there's still a lot of race left. It's bad when these things happen, but if we look at the race, everyone has problems on the Dakar. It's no consolation, but we are trying to do our best”.
On the positive side, Isidre Esteve is recovering more and more from the flu he's been suffering from for a few days and that severely affected his performance in the first stage, last Saturday, the 4th. “I'm sure that from now on we'll do better”, ventures the rider from Oliana, who is competing in his 20th Dakar, his 10th in a car.
Paradoxically, the second part of the 48-hour time trial has once again proved elusive for Isidre Esteve and Txema Villalobos. Last year, in this same stage (then disputed in a different scenario, and just before the rest day), they already lived an epic odyssey to stay in the race, when they had also completed the first part with very good sensations.
This year the imponderable has not been so drastic (then they had to spend a second night in the desert), but still forces the Repsol Toyota Rally Team to rethink the objectives for the remainder of the race. The priority now is to recover positions and continue testing the renewable fuel (70% of which is made from non-fossil fuel components) and the renewable lubricant developed in Repsol's Technology Lab. Every kilometer in such harsh real-world conditions is worth its weight in gold to contribute to this energy transition.
This Tuesday, the third stage (the fifth day of the race) takes the caravan from Bisha to Al Henakiyah. The Dakar leaves Bisha, where the competitors have been based since their arrival in Saudi Arabia, to head towards the north of the country. It is therefore a long stage, with a total of 792 kilometers, 327 of which are timed.
Automatic translation of the Spanish version
Source: Repsol Toyota Rally Team / Mediagé Comunicación
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