Dakar Stage 10 – Simon Pavey Blog

After overcoming a broken engine on stage nine, Simon Pavey got his Dakar back on track with another solid stage finish of 87th to leave him 71st overall with just three days remaining.

Stage 10 saw riders completed over 862KM including 176KM of timed special in a day where temperatures started at just three degrees in the mountains and soared to over 30 degrees when the riders reached the desert.

Pavey said: “There is no need for me to push this now. I blew my engine the day before so its all about finishing. It was very hot today and there were a few cars and bikes out of the race as a result.

“The sand is very soft, and it puts a lot of strain on these little 450’s. My BMW has been great and gone lot further than most, it did incredibly to survive as long as it did. Most riders are on their third engines and they aren’t pushing any more or less than me.”

“The navigation in the last 15km’s was really difficult, when I got there 75 other bikes had been through so it was hard to see which way to go. I definitely got a bit lost and it took a fair while to find the right route. The sand was so soft too, with all the bikes that had been through today it was hard. I am glad I made it to then end, we only have three days left now.”

Stage 11 will see competitors endure another monster 780km of riding, but with the Dakar now heading back in Argentina the terrain is set to become much stonier and faster.