Peru: Stage 2 - Pisco to Pisco quotes

Bike

011 - Ruben FARIA “Finally, a true Dakar stage! It wasn't easy, with loads of off-track riding and high speeds, but that's the way it is, this is Peru and I like it. I started seventh this morning, but at km 40 I had some problems finding a waypoint and I set off with Frans Verhoeven, whom I subsequently overtook. I then caught up with Cyril [Despres] and we tackled the last big dunes together. But 2 km before the finish, my motorcycle stopped. I moved the fuel tap and it got going again. I hope that was the problem, because if it was the Vapor Lock, I'm worried about the next few days...”

#5 Husqvarna: Joan Barreda

Photo by: Husqvarna Rallye Team by Speedbrain

039 - MATT FISH “This result isn't really a surprise because our team does its best so we can pull out all the stops, as I did today. We went flat out from the start and it's already paid dividends! I hope we can keep it up.”

005 - Joan BARREDA BORT "I got lost at the beginning of the stage. But I wasn't the only one who needed some time to find his bearings. I quickly got back on track and everything went smoothly from then on. It was a great day at the office."

012 - Juan PEDRERO "It was a gruelling stage. I started in 43rd place. It was tough. I had to overtake a lot of people and stay focused. I found the motivation to do it. There was a lot of dust. It was quite dangerous. But the result is there. I'd like to thank those who supported me despite finishing 43rd yesterday. Some of them might have thought I wasn't going to do anything..."

Quad

250 - Marcos PATRONELLI "The stage was fast. Very beautiful. But also dangerous. Everything went well. I was a bit worried when the Peruvian driver [Ignacio Flores] was in front. But everything went well. It was a good day. I'm very happy."

265 - Sebastian HUSSEINI “A nice special, very similar to what I'd expect to find in my own backyard, with vast expanses of sand, just like in the Emirates. Most importantly, I had a tonne of fun even though it's only my first real special in the Dakar, so I've still got a lot to learn regarding navigational aids. But everything turned out really well and I'll do my best to keep it up during the entire rally.”

Car 302 - Stéphane PETERHANSEL “We had a good stage, mainly thanks to navigation. We're fast, and we've got the potential to go even faster, but it was mostly Jean-Paul's navigation which saved the day, nothing else.”

303 - Carlos SAINZ “We need to have a look at the GPS, there may be something wrong with it. We went through certain points two or three times without them being validated, until we thought ‘too bad, let's move on’ and, after 15 km, it went back to normal... I don't know, we need to have a look at it.”

300 - Nasser AL-ATTIYAH “We went through a waypoint and nothing happened, so we continued to look around for a while and all of a sudden it was validated, not only for us but also for all the drivers behind us, who lost far less time. So we drove flat out from then on in an attempt to claw back as much time as possible, and we finished at this pace. Of course, I'm happy with the car's performance and speed, but I'm obviously upset we lost time like this. Anyway, our two cars are in the running and, you never know, tomorrow it may be someone else's turn to have these problems.”

301 - Giniel DE VILLIERS “The special was tougher than we thought, especially in a certain place where navigating was really tricky and the sun didn't let us see the top of the dunes. So I didn't go very fast in the first part of the special, but then things got better. At any rate, I'm happy because the car works well and we didn't have any problems, which is a good sign for the next few days, which should be extremely difficult.”

316 - Ronan CHABOT “A terrific day. We got off to a flying start and soon caught the first four drivers in a dune belt which required some navigation. Then we caught Álvarez. We got stuck on a stone in a dry riverbed towards the end of the stage, so we had to go into reverse and Stéphane [Peterhansel] seized the chance to overtake us. No biggie, it still was a terrific day and we're happy with it!”

Truck

500 - Gerard DE ROOY “A beautiful special which I think was designed with the trucks in mind, because it had nice dunes and we had loads of fun despite a few tricky moments during the descents. Unfortunately, we lost about 10 minutes looking for a waypoint until we finally found it as we went by a dune. Anyway, I'm quite happy, especially because we were able to drive flat out in the last few kilometres... Broadly speaking, everything went well.”

503 - Ales LOPRAIS “Today was extremely difficult. We lost a few minutes in the first part of the stage due to a navigational mistake, so we pulled out all the stops on the dunes and in the end we managed to claw back some time. But I'm knackered! Although today's special was short, it was extremely difficult, and I didn't expect this on the second day of racing. Anyway, we'll just keep attackin and hanging on!”

ASO DAKAR