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Dakar 2022: Lascorz maintains tenth overall despite penalty

A 10-minute penalty prevented Joan Lascorz from collecting yet another top 15 finish on day six of the 2022 Dakar rally.

Different routes separated the bikes and quads from the remaining four wheel fraternity on stage five of the desert quest as Lascorz and Miguel Puertas navigated the 395 km special, following the already lengthy 216 km liaison, of Riyadh’s northern loop.

Having registered 27th after the initial waypoint, the pair traversed the gravel terrain and concluding sand dunes to sit 11th in the SSV T4 category at the final two time checks before crossing the line 13th. A post-stage speeding penalty however, added a further 10-minutes to their 4:58:17 time dropping them to 17th.

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Despite the penalty, #447 Team Buggy Masters remain 10th overall, 16 minutes behind their nearest rival and nine ahead of the next in the hunt.
 
Friday’s concluding stage before the long-awaited rest sees the motorcycles and cars swap routes with Lascorz taking the trail today dominated by Danilo Petrucci.
 
“Stage 5 completed; it was one of the long stages of the Dakar,” Lascorz said this evening from Riyadh. “Physically, I felt good and strong throughout the stage. I got up quite exhausted: my arms feel heavy, it was difficult for me to push the chair. But once I started, I have recharged energies fast.
 
“I still take it fairly cautiously. I have been fighting with drivers, overtaking quite a few, trucks have also overtaken me, they have made me stop, a driver has overturned in front of us and I had to stop to see if I was okay ...
 
“For some time I followed another fast buggy driver. In the dunes I got on his tail and started surfing dunes just like him. He didn’t brake away and even, when I made a mistake, then I would pick him up again. We were going with a great pace, catching other drivers and overtaking in dunes, but when we wanted to overtake two drivers at the same time, he made a feint of getting stuck on a dune, I had to brake not to hit him and it was me who got stuck on the dune. There I wasted a little time going out, not much, but he had already brake contact.
 
“Coming from the back is complicated because you risk a lot with the dust, being easy to crash or puncture from pushing too hard. In the whole Dakar we have not punctured any wheels, we have not broken any drive belts. We avoided most problems; that means we are quite cautious and instead you see all drivers changing wheels every day.
 
“I would like to get out of the top ten because I would find the track better and I would not find so many trucks ... but that’s how it goes. If I risk on breaking, which is quite feasible from where I start, I'll bet on not finishing the Dakar. I prefer to learn every day, every kilometre I do I’m learning and every day I feel better. If I feel good at the end, I will manage to push harder and harder.
 
“I'm happy because the team is doing a good job, the buggy goes smooth. It doesn’t brake apart; I feel comfortable with it. We are doing suspensions set ups and it’s feeling better.”

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