Rafa\u0142 Sonik will not defend the hard-fought Bedouin trophy from last year. On Thursday, during the stage from Jujuy to Uyni in Bolivia, his quad\u2019s engine exploded. He was waiting for help for a long, long time, but nobody decided to take him on tow for 120 km of a special stage. He had to reach the bivouac with the help of the local transport, and as such, he said goodbye to the hopes of completing this year\u2019s Dakar Rally. <\/p>\n
During the first stage of the marathon stage Rafa\u0142 Sonik had troubles with oil leaking in his quad. On the way to Uyuni, he took care of his fluids, but he kept going, and until the sixth check-point he had third time, gaining valuable minutes and catching up with the rivals, who also faced problems. But then, the bad luck stroked and at 4,593 m above sea level, next to San Vincente, the engine in Rafa\u0142\u2019s quad exploded.<\/p>\n
\u2018The engine lost all the oil and the quad could go no further. One of the quad riders towed me to the next small town, but he couldn\u2019t take me further, because he had his clutch damaged. I waited at the end of a long straight section, at a place with a 30 km\/h speed limit, so that everyone could see me. The locals brought me blankets and coffee. It was very cold, and later it started raining. I spent there several hours, until all quads and cars were through, and the trucks arrived. The trucks couldn\u2019t tow me, because they wouldn\u2019t see me in their mirrors. No participant decided to tow me 120 km through the mountains, so I had to reach the bivouac in Uyuni with the help of the locals,\u2019 said Sonik.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s winner of the Dakar Rally loaded his quad onto a truck from a local silver mine with the help of Bolivians and arrived in Uyuni before 11 p.m. of local time. \u2018No we need to stay calm. I have to shower and get some sleep. Nothing hurts, I don\u2019t have any bruises, I\u2019m in good shape. Nothing happened that would destroy my chances in another stages. This is what Dakar should look like. But a little bit more luck would be nice,\u2019 said Sonik.<\/p>\n
The time for analyses will come, but Orlen Team champion promises that the fight is not yet over. \u2018From the short-time perspective the situation is awful, because this went down due to a failure that couldn\u2019t have been prevented. But you have to remember that for the past four years I was on the top. How long could it last?,\u2019 joked Sonik. \u2018Now it caught up with me, twice. Had it not been the marathon stage, my service team would\u2019ve repaired it on the first day, and had it not been for the mountains and the storm, somebody would\u2019ve towed me to the finish line.<\/p>\n
The quad rider and his team do not want to pack their bags and go back to Poland. They will reach the end of the rally in Rosario, driving along access roads with the convoy of technical teams. \u2018We drive on, because we have to learn. In order to win, you have to be here. We will also cheer for the Polish participants who are still in the game,\u2019 concluded Sonik.
\nPKN ORLEN supports Rafa\u0142 Sonik’s participation in the rally.<\/p>\n