Joan Barreda (right) and Jeremias Israel (left) along with the rest of the HRC team had some criticism for the organizers after Stage 8 of the Dakar Rally. Photography by HRC.
Three long hours after the top finishers crossed the finish line, HRC’s Joan Barreda made it through Stage 8 of the Dakar Rally. Barreda had been leading the Rally since Day 2, and was disappointed to say the least when he watched it all unravel today.
The beginning of Stage 8 (part two of a marathon stage) was questionable from the start, with many riders not wanting to brave the sub-zero temperatures, the poor visibility or least of all, the standing water on Uyuni salt lake that lay ahead. But organizers made the decision to route around 100km (62 miles) of the course and continue the Dakar Rally.
Upon finally reaching the finish with assistance from his HRC teammate Jeremias Israel, Joan Barreda had some critical things to say.
“In the end, it’s been collateral damage, and what a disgrace what they’ve made us do today – to race in a sea,” Barreda declared. “It was out of place. All the work on projects that we’ve done has gone down the pan. To make a decision like that just wasn’t right. Today you couldn’t see a thing; visibility was zero. We were floating around on top of the water. They ordered us to start and this is what happened. My Dakar is over.”
Barreda’s teammate Paulo Goncalves, who currently sits second overall, agreed with the sentiment, saying, “We shouldn’t have run today. We were crossing a real sea. The rider didn’t want to race for safety reasons, but the rally got underway and ended up causing a massive amount of problems for many riders. Some of them had to be rescued with hypothermia. It was too dangerous.”
The entire Honda team – even fifth-place finisher Laia Sanz who celebrated her best finish of the race – was in agreement that the stage was too dangerous and harmful on the bikes. The teammates all voiced their criticism in a release from HRC.
“With those conditions, the start was too dangerous,” said Israel, who helped Barreda to the finish. “It’s a pity that a stage like this one has destroyed a race that had been so interesting.”
“For me, it’s been a really great day, but this morning I would have preferred not to set off,” said Sanz. “The conditions were not for racing and my hands practically froze. The altitude, the cold and the lack of visibility… the bikes took such a beating from the water and the salt. It was really dangerous, but we decided that we had to go for it and we ended up starting the special.”
Helder Rodrigues was another who lost valuable time today, and took a dive in overall standings due to the conditions of Stage 8. “It’s been a really difficult day for the team,” Rodrigues said. “We had problems and we’ve lost it all: my place in the overall standings, Joan’s leadership. It’s been really hard. The salt has been disastrous for the bikes and has broken up everything. I want to carry on, win some stages and help the team to finish with the best result possible.”
