And today's 426-km timed loop is a real challenge. We set off on the same tracks we arrived on yesterday, on a very fast and very, very dusty track. This meant that until the first 100 km of the special, we were riding in the dust of the driver in front of us, and that driver, in turn, in the dust of his predecessor. It was impossible to get close enough to press the sentinel button to overtake.
Another dusty beginning
Once the valley opened up and parallel tracks emerged, we began to overtake, although not without some risk because the dust was dense and took a while to settle. Thus, amidst the dust, we reached the first neutralization, 25 km long, on the road.
The second part of the selective was spectacular in terms of scenery, very sandy, dotted with beautiful rock formations, which gave the landscape a fantastic lunar appearance. It's a shame we weren't there for photos, because it would have been worth it.
From a sporting perspective, we continued, despite the fact that it was mostly sand, mired in the dust from the vehicles in front of us. This made the stage dangerous because on many occasions you were literally blind, sometimes traveling at over 80 km/h with the risk of colliding with a rock, going off the track, which happens frequently, or catching another participant who, having lost sight of them, brakes. The truth is, it wasn't much fun, because you were constantly tense, waiting for a bigger catastrophe.
As if that weren't enough, since we were traveling in a convoy of 4 or 5 vehicles, the dust is constantly suspended and it's very difficult to follow the Road Book accurately because you're not able to distinguish the paper's indications from the landscape. This, without any excuse, is what led us to take a short excursion of almost 10 minutes.
The first in the convoy turned around prematurely, following a note in the road book, and those behind us, blinded by the dust, turned around after him because the cap was more or less correct. When we realized our mistake, we backed off, but by then it had taken us a few minutes to get back on track with the road book and get back on track.
Accusing fatigue
After the second neutralization, the stage continued through a magnificent landscape of sand and rocks, but with 80 km to go, the landscape became more arid and very stony, which turned our Iveco into a perfect people-cutting machine.
The dust hasn't stopped even on the gravel, which has greatly affected Albert's driving, which greatly fatigues his hands and wrists, and it's already grinding Marc and me as if we were being beaten.
There were 50 km left to the finish and Marc said: "we have a puncture", to which Albert and I responded with a "damn...". A few seconds later, Marc informed us that he was trying to pump up the air and that we weren't stopping to change the tire for the time being.
We slowed down a bit to avoid damaging another wheel and to take care of the puncture, and fortunately we were able to reach the end of the stage and then the camp, another 70 km on asphalt, without changing the tire.
At the end of the timed section, the truck technician in charge weighed our 10-ton truck. Let's see if things go a little better for us tomorrow.
Gas i xampany!!!
Ferran Marco Albert Llovera's co-pilot
