Stage 7 - Driver Quotes

Marc Coma:

It is common knowledge that the stage before the rest day is always difficult, and today was not an exception, with stifling heat and very soft sand. Nevertheless, we rode very fast and I was able to attack. I gained 2 minutes on Cyril but that is obviously not enough! We know the strategy well, so we are aware that I will probably gain two minutes one day, then Cyril will gain two minutes the next... And it is hard to change this when there is but one road. Anyway, we are second in the general classification on the rest day and everything is going smoothly, so it has been a good rally for us so far.

Robby Gordon:

It really was a perfect day for the Hummers! I had a flat 25 km into the first special and Peterhansel overtook me, but we were later able to move back ahead of him. We will see exactly how much time we gained on him, but it is obvious that our car is extremely fast on this type of terrain. It is easy to see that it was designed for this sort of stages. We have also changed a lot of things, including the transmission, and it is now a fearsome machine. In fact, I am sure Nasser is going to win this thing... OK, the others are still ahead, but I think we are in a very good position for the rest of the rally.

Cyril Despres:

I was a bit lazy today, since Marc led the race from km 200 onwards, the start of the second special, but I think that is also part of the race. So I thank him for this. There is always a strategic aspect, since we know we can control two-minute gaps. Having said that, I finished with my hands paralysed, but it was a really beautiful special with beautiful dunes... And it feels go to lead the race on the rest day. I am happy.

Gerard de Rooy:

We did not find today's stage difficult, we found it terrific! Although I suffered a left-side puncture at the beginning which cost me somewhere around 10 to 12 minutes, I was later able to overtake everyone on the dunes. Not only Miki and Loprais, but also cars, it was so much fun... I saw a lot of people who had got stuck, but we were able to pass the dunes without problems. Everyone said that the front of the truck would pose a visibility problem on the dunes, but I had no issues with that, and it was obviously harder for the others... I am pleased!

Nasser Al - Attiyah:

The car worked perfectly well today and we attacked from the beginning to the end of the special. We took a lot of risks to set the best time. Our objective is to claw back seven or eight minutes every day. And today we did it perfectly. We will do our best to repeat this performance in all stages from Monday onwards, or even try to do better. At any rate, we have no other choice if we still want to win the Dakar!

Stephane Peterhansel:

I expected the dunes to be tougher, but at the end it was a mix with camel grass. We never came close to getting stuck. There was a moment when we overtook Gordon, who had just stopped due to a flat tyre, but he later caught up with us and then overtook us at full speed. We tried to follow him but it was impossible. With his wide clearings, he was able to jump over the gaps! If we attempted to go that fast, we would roll over twice. We suffer a bit in these open desert areas.

Francisco Lopez:

I fell in the first part of the special - not very hard, but enough to re-awaken the pain in my right knee. In the second part of the special I suffered so much on the dunes that I was hardly able to ride. I do not know, but I fail to see how I could continue tomorrow. Fortunately, tomorrow is the rest day, so I will see the bivouac doctors and call mine, but I think my Dakar has come to an end. I am in a world of pain right now.

Paulo Goncalves:

This was a very good stage for me and I am very happy about my good time, but especially because I had fun riding on the dunes, although the very soft sand made things difficult. I put time into my rivals, except Marc and Cyril, of course, so it was a good stage for me. Now, I will try to use the rest day to start the second week at the same rhythm and try to keep on going like this, every day, until Lima.

Hans Stacey:

I was very careful with my tyres in the first special, which did not stop us from finishing first. Then we started the second part, which was a genuine, beautiful Dakar special on the dunes. I was not driving too fast, but we still had a rear tyre flat and lost about 15 minutes. Then we made a couple of mistakes and, although we did not have to leave the cabin, we lost some more time. But well, we are still in the running and quite confident, since the truck is going strong and our team is very good... Anything can still happen, this is the Dakar after all!

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