Dakar 2010

I know, I could feel it, lots of good energy, great hopes of many people, to reach the finish line. These were my hopes, too. In fact, I finished the race thanks to your support,

– said Rafał Sonik at the finish line.

For the best of the representatives of Poland, this year’s Dakar ended in a high fifth place, a hair’s breadth from fourth place. Although there was no indication that the multiple Polish champion would even come close to the previous year’s result, his exceptional fight to the very end, including winning the last stage, gave a fantastic end result.

If not for the fact that I knew that there were many fans, many of my friends and my family, the people for whom it was important what I was doing and that what we started must be finished. I decided that if it was possible to state after two or three days that there was no chance to win the rally in the circumstances that were taking place, that it was important anyway to complete what we started together and in what so many people believed. And that’s exactly what happened,

– Sonik emotionally summed up his race right after he had reached the finish line of Dakar 2010.

Rafał Sonik’s warmest words of thanks were addressed to his fans whose support he could feel in the difficult moments when the referees could make no completely clear decisions:

If it hadn’t been for you, I would have withdraw after the third or fourth day because I would have decided that I didn’t want to take part in something with which I disagreed on principle. However, you became the reason for which I continued racing and fighting. Thank you.

Only ten out of twenty-five quads finished the rally