Rafa\u0142 Sonik said many times that he is superstitious. He is dogged by misfortune at the first stage of rallies \u2013 if he survives it, it means he will reach the finish line. This year\u2019s edition of the Dakar Rally has already shook its finger at him at the third kilometre of the route, when Rafa\u0142 fell down. However, as the old saying goes: \u201cWhat doesn\u2019t kill you makes you stronger\u201d.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s special stage was a test for all participants. It was an extended prologue with elements of navigation. For some, it turned out to be the last day of racing. Sebastien Souday, a winner of two rounds of this year\u2019s World Cup series, fell down and broke his wrist, which forced him out of the Dakar Rally, for the third time during one of the early stages of the race. Rafa\u0142 Sonik had a much better luck. Even though he crashed a little, he only lost six minutes to the leader.<\/p>\n
\u2018The roadbook lacks the designations that we are used to see in the World Cup series. Not all obstacles are described accordingly and we keep getting surprised. That was exactly it: I was driving in the dust, I hit a large bump with the left wheel and I got thrown off to the right. Luckily, this happened at a low speed, but many quad elements got bent, and I gained a huge bruise on my leg…\u2019 said Rafa\u0142.<\/p>\n
The dust, mentioned by the 2015 winner, was not insignificant. It was stirred up by the bike riders, who started the race before the quad riders. \u2018I asked Marc Coma to have us start five, or at least three minutes after the bikers. He said no, so I set off 30 seconds after the last bikers on the starting list. But our leaders are faster than at least a hundred of these bikers…\u2019 he emphasized.<\/p>\n
The loss to the leader, Marcelo Medeiros (Brazil), who won this stage, with Gaston Gonzalez (Argentina) and Nelson Sanabria (Paraguay) on the second and third places, was slightly over six minutes. From the perspective of the entire rally, it is not much, but as Sonik said, it will be very important in the upcoming days. \u2018On Tuesday I will have to overtake the slowest bikers again, because I will start behind their backs. With the bruise on my leg and the clouds of dust, I\u2019m in for a difficult day. Like in 2010, when I had to go up in the ranking for several days. What else is there to do? I have to get my night\u2019s sleep, take painkillers, clench my teeth and drive as best as I can on the following day,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Kamil Wi\u015bniewski, who completed the stage on the 17th place, sounds just as ferocious. \u2018This is exactly the terrain that I trained on in Polish cross-country rallies. Dust, holes, and a lot of surprises. I felt great, but I made sure not to be reckless. \u00a0The most important thing is that we reached the finish line and that we will fight for better positions as of tomorrow,\u2019 he promised.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the riders will begin their day in Resistencia and will drive to San Miguel de Tucuman. This stage will be 803 km, with 275 km of a special stage.<\/p>\n
Results of the first stage:
\n1.\u00a0Marcelo\u00a0Medeiros\u00a0(BRA)\u00a032.53
\n2.\u00a0Gaston\u00a0Gonzalez\u00a0(ARG)\u00a0+1.02
\n3.\u00a0Nelson\u00a0Sanabria\u00a0(PAR)\u00a0+\u00a01.39
\n…
\n17.\u00a0Kamil\u00a0Wi\u015bniewski\u00a0(POL)\u00a0+3.17
\n25.\u00a0Rafa\u0142\u00a0Sonik\u00a0(POL)\u00a0+6.45<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rafa\u0142 Sonik said many times that he is superstitious. He is dogged by misfortune at the first stage of rallies \u2013 if he survives it, it means he will reach the finish line. This year\u2019s edition of the Dakar Rally has already shook its finger at him at the third kilometre of the route, when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n