Monster Energy Honda Team’s Adrien Van Beveren put in a commanding performance across two days of rallying in Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter with victory on an enormous stage six.
It was a stage that would completely change the course of events in this enormous desert region, which is larger than France with 650,000 km2 of dunes and offers riders breathtakingly beautiful views in an amazing setting for attack. Experienced in the sand, Van Beveren leveraged his wealth of Le Touquet knowledge to establish a slim lead over teammate Ricky Brabec. After 513 kilometres of rallying, the clock stopped at 4 p.m. yesterday, and the driver had reached bivouac F.
Aside from the physical demands of the stage, the riders’ already low energy levels were further exacerbated by the provision of meagre food rations, lack of support, no phones, and spending the night in a tent on the beach. But with only 112 kilometres left to travel across the dunes, Van
I had a terrible stage yesterday since I ran out of fuel right before I was refuelled. I tried to take fuel from other riders at one point and thought I was out of the race, but everyone else was pushing the envelope as well. Before I could restart, I had to wait for about an hour and a half to get some fuel. I did my best, but yesterday I lost so much ground that I regrettably missed every opportunity to lead the race.
Even though you’ve been training hard for this rally, it’s unfortunate when things like this occur, but that’s the nature of racing. However, I can go on from here to the
The challenge of travelling for many hours and kilometres made the time spent in the dunes enjoyable, so I didn’t mind. Even though we didn’t get much sleep last night, we had a great time camping with the boys.
It was a really cool stage made entirely of dunes, and I hope they do something similar again.
I do better on rocks and open deserts, so I really pushed the dunes there, but I also played it safe in the end because I didn’t want to open stage seven. Let’s see what transpires over the next six days; I’m feeling good heading into next week.
Since the goal was to try and minimise the amount of time lost for opening the majority of the stage, I’m happy with where I finished. I’m pleased with my effort because I gave it my all for two days.
We will carry on with our current plan, giving each task our all one full week remaining. Though I have some challenging days ahead of me, I should be well-positioned to begin stage seven on Sunday.
This was a crucial stage for me because I knew I could perform well in the dunes and make a difference because we had discussed what it would entail. I started out riding quickly but quickly depleted the first fuel tank, so I had to adjust and ride more smoothly in an effort to increase my fuel efficiency. I settled into a nice rhythm, and it felt good to win.
I’m happy I completed the 48 Hour Chrono; going through this lengthy stage in the dunes was an enjoyable experience. We were all pretty physically destroyed when we arrived yesterday, but I’m glad we got the chance.
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