Dakar 2023: Shortage of gasoline delays António Maio

António Maio faced a fourth stage of Dakar Rally 2023 that proved to be quite complex due to the conditions of the ground that was quite hard due to heavy rains that fell in the region of Ha-Il where today's journey took place. In addition to all the difficulties of the 425km that made up the special, the GNR major's race was seriously affected by running out of fuel when he was a short distance from the refueling zone.

"Today was a very difficult day. The special was composed mostly of dunes and sand tracks, and because it rained a lot the terrain was particularly hard. At the beginning of the special I lost some time because the bike got stuck on a dune, however, I managed to solve the problem quickly and from then on I was able to set a good pace. 10 kilometers from the assistance I ran out of gas and lost a lot of time, which conditioned the rest of my race. With this result it is more difficult to achieve a good classification, but I will continue to fight and I will give my best to conquer positions", reported António Maio at the end of the stage, who now occupies the 27th position in the general classification of motorcycles.

Tomorrow, the fifth stage of the Dakar Rally 2023 will once again be a circular journey around Ha-il, the Saudi capital of off-road racing. The small grassy dune course will give way to vast stretches dotted with dunes. In this slalom section, the technique of overcoming the dunes will make the difference between winning or losing minutes. Only the true experts will master the sand without losing time.

Automatic translation from the original Portuguese version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source Antonio Maio official press release