We have started a new stage, now with cars and trucks mixed according to yesterday's classification, so in 40th position. Today, as a novelty, they gave us the Road Book in the morning.
We passed through the finish control at the start of the special stage, where we were given the road book and 15 minutes to review it before setting off. This is a measure I welcome, because it puts everyone on an equal footing, as no team had any information before the qualifying session began.
A dusty beginning
We set off on a sandy, dusty track, and since we leave every 30 seconds, there's no time for the dust to settle back on the ground, and it stays in suspension.
It's been quite a few kilometres, between overtaking slower riders and being overtaken by those who had some trouble yesterday but are faster than us, to find the position where you neither overtake nor are overtaken, you ride dust-free and my role as navigator is much more fun because there's no one in front of you to guide you.
Stage in full development
The Road Book vignettes go by: fast, sandy tracks for the first 30km, very rocky for the next 30km, and the rest alternating between fast and broken, along dry riverbeds and through canyons.
The scenery was beautiful: magnificent rock formations amidst the golden desert sand, narrow canyons, magnificent dry riverbeds, and majestic mountains on the horizon, all under a clear, crisp blue sky.
With 50 km to go, a slightly late braking effort ripped off a tie rod supporting the front axle, which meant we had to stop to remove it and prevent it from digging into the ground and catapulting us forward like a pole vault.
Truck checking account
Today, I'm going to introduce you to a new concept in this crazy world of racing, what I call the truck's mechanical checking account.
The truck has its own checking account with us, and when we start up each morning, we have a credit balance in the account. Every bump, every erratic jump, every braking point where we hit the brakes hard, the truck takes note and adds it to its debit side, subtracting our balance from our credit.
If we're good, we follow our strategy to the letter, we don't crash, we don't mistreat the machine, we behave well with the truck, we avoid unnecessary jumps, etc., then we arrive at the camp with a credit balance, but if not, depending on the credit we have, we either stop to repair and compensate the balance or we don't arrive at all.
Navigation problems
Today's special was also a very fun one in terms of navigation. I had a great time, as on many occasions we crossed paths with participants, from all categories, who were coming head-on, against the direction of the race, looking for a pass or a waypoint they hadn't validated.
There were two particularly difficult points: one at the entrance to a canyon where it was a bit difficult to find the correct cap, and two, at the end of the stage, at kilometer 466, where there were two really difficult vignettes. In one, the secret was to correctly interpret the route book and follow the indication of the note that wasn't drawn, an indication that appears to the right of the vignette where the trick was realizing that you had to follow the power line even though the cap didn't match at first.
Then, at the end, there was a WPC, which are those Waypoints where you never open the GPS. The truth is, they were really hard to find. I have to thank my crew for their vote of confidence, who, with blind faith in me, continued even when we saw six or seven vehicles coming on the other side. This means that confidence in the co-driver is at its highest; because when you're on a track and you see people coming the wrong way, the first thing you think is that we made a mistake. In the end, we found the WP without any further problems.
Today, among other things, we have seen that without the help of Map Man, the "good guys" also get lost. 
Gas i xampany!!!
Ferran Marco Albert Llovera's co-pilot
