Joan Font delivered a strong performance in a demanding second Dakar stage, once again marked by the sheer amount of rocks on the route, along with hanging dust that was very annoying in many sections of the special. Despite the limitations of competing in a support role and driving a less competitive vehicle than most in his category, the Catalan finished just 58 seconds short of breaking into the Challenger top 20. He ultimately placed 21st — a very commendable result given the circumstances.
Even though only two stages have been run, Font and his co-driver Adrià Guillem have enjoyed a very clean start to the Dakar, with hardly any mechanical issues — whether their own or others’. Across the 400 timed kilometres of Monday’s special, they maintained a consistent and effective rhythm that allowed them to climb from 151st at the start to 124th at the finish, overtaking a total of 27 vehicles — all while keeping an eye on the two team-mates they assist, Saudi drivers Hamza Bakhashab and Abdullah Al Shegawi, who compete in the SSV category.
“I’m happy because I was able to go fast and, at the same time, be prudent enough to look after the car as much as possible. In the end it turned into a pretty good stage; honestly, we can’t go much faster, because in our category many of the vehicles ahead of us are clearly superior,” explained the BE Racing driver. “On top of that, we have the handicap that we almost always start among the trucks, which means a lot of dust, but that’s how it is: we have to accept it and keep going. Even so, I’m pleased with how everything is going so far.”
During the stage, Font even had time to help Hamza Bakhashab, the only Saudi Next Gen representative still in the rally after Al Shegawi was forced to retire the previous day. The latter continues in the Dakar Experience category. “We tried to stay together throughout the stage and it worked well. We only had to stop for a few minutes to help Hamza straighten the sump guard, which was bent,” he added.
Thanks to this solid result, Joan Font climbs seven places in the overall Challenger standings, from 30th up to 23rd. It’s a position he will try to defend in stage three, a 422-kilometre special starting and finishing in AlUla, which is expected to be notably more complex in terms of navigation, as it crosses vast empty plateaus where tracks will be harder to pick out.
Source: Joan Font official press release
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