Dakar 2003. Team diary

We needed to get to Siwa
Siwa gives all of us a break. Especially Marc, because the mechanics, lead by Manel, David and Alex, will have to dismantle the bike and check everything, even the least detail
 After two horrendous days, with Nani and Isidre out of the race, we really needed to get to Siwa. Especially Marc. He’s feeling a lot of pressure. He knows that he’s the last rider of the team and he wants to arrive no matter what. Siwa is going to do him well. He’s physically on top but he’s getting mentally tired. He had never taken part in such a long race and last year, the one of his debut, wasn’t of much help: he had a very short race due to mechanical problems. So everything is new for him, even the dunes he has discovered this year, but he’s delighted. They are so much fun, although we haven’t done the very soft sand yet, the one they’ve told me there is in Mauritania, said Marc. Siwa gives all of us a break. Especially Marc, because the mechanics, lead by Manel, David and Alex, will have to dismantle the bike and check everything, even the least detail. We don’t want a breakdown to pull  Marc out of the race after all the work he has done. The truth is that this rest day is actually a cheat: it’s supposed to be half of the race, but that’s not true: there are only five days left. There are giant dunes of up to 100 metres, said the organisation. But it won’t be as long as it took us to get here. When we think about the scrutineering in France it seems as if it’s been years since then. We’re all tired and a rest day is a blessing. Theoretically from here on everything will be like a descent, but there might be problems yet. A lot of European people have come to Siwa. It’s a city of a certain size. There are even toilets at the airport, but no showers. Anyway, enough to keep on moving. At least it won’t be necessary to set up and remove the tents in the next three days because Tuesday’s stage is around Siwa. These days are dangerous: since the start and the finish are on the same place and the organisation has all the logistics and helicopters at hand, Patrick Zaniroli always organises an ambush. And he’ll catch us in cold: just after having a rest, something we’re not used to since we left home, more than two weeks ago.