Joan Barreda is reborn. You can say it loud and clear. the pilot of White Tower he is saved from tragedy thanks to his helmet and the biggest stroke of luck of his life. On stage 5 of the Dakar 2023, the Torreblanca rider lost control of his motorcycle in an area with camel grass. I rolled on the side Toby Price. And when he fell to the ground, the Australian’s motorcycle passed his helmet. Anything can happen. But fate wanted it not to be like that. Joan Barreda faints and wakes up with Toby and two other pilots stopping to help her: hello and his great friend and caravan companion Paul Quintanilla. After a while, he decided to get back on the bike with these riders and they reached the end of the special together.
“When refueling, we were all together and there we were in the group. 30 km from the end… I didn’t know it too well, but I fell in the camel grass area. The bike moved. Side to side, I fell but Toby was next to me and he ran over my helmet and it was badly damaged,” Joan said, detailing what happened when she woke up.
“I stood up and we stayed there for a couple of minutes or three with Pablo (Quintanilla) because I was a little stunned at first. In fact, I stood up and told Pablo ‘where is he going? Doon or over here?? ?’. Nakita I have lines but I don’t know where to go. After a while, I’m gradually recovering my mental sensations, which at first I was so stunned even by the link, which still went a little too far. . Later it got better but everything seems fine and I’m just a little scared,” he revealed.
“Unlucky because of what happened? The truth is, now looking at it from a different perspective… it was lucky, because anything can happen. You have to take the positive, which is a lot and hope. All the time the Dakar remains ahead and we are there with options,” he added. He was born again, but he was already thinking about race.
Joan again insisted that she was fine, but appeared to be ‘touched’, perhaps frightened by the knowledge of what had happened, a situation she could not assess if it was the most difficult of her career as she stressed that she had “fallen asleep”.
“When you revive it, it’s more difficult. That’s the impact, because it hit my helmet and I asked for knowledge. The first image I have is of Pablo (Quintanilla), Toby (Price) and Howes telling me if it is okay, that it hasn’t been touched. We have to thank them again”, said Joan, who wanted to mention Price: “Last year Toby also helped me at that stage where I came that I couldn’t hold the bike and in the end, this This has passed this year and that’s how the races are. The only thing I can say is thank you for having helped me”.
THE BROKEN HELMET
“When you see the helmet you realize that anything can happen. In this sense, I thanked God for being here and continuing the race, but above all for being well. It was a blow to the head. At first it was i didn’t really understand what happened because it’s a group navigation site and you don’t even take risks. It can happen to you if you hit a bad pothole and you eat a little, the bike bounces and you fall, but of course. When I got here, Toby (Price) came and explained the film to me. I was very lucky.”
NO MORE GOING TO THE DOCTOR
“I didn’t go to the doctor because the sensations were good. It’s clear that someone also needs to know. Hours passed and it felt good, I didn’t have any gaps or something that was difficult for me to remember, or coordinate anything. I feel Well, at first I was stunned but even so, I was navigating, I was looking at all the things… but after a while you spend quite a bit”.
REMAKE AFTER WHAT HAPPENED
“Tomorrow we have to reset now and start. We started well, it’s a long stage and we don’t know if it will be as complicated as today. We have to be calm, we are well placed in general and it will be a good day Neither tomorrow will change. There are still nine days. We have to take the positive and we have to look forward. We have options, we are in the classification in the fight and we come out well placed. We must take precautions more than ever because there are more days left, the body is more tired, you don’t have the freshness of the first days, but we have arrived here in Dakar. We know what Dakar is, what this race is and we are ready for what what will happen”.
COMPARE THIS DAKAR WITH THE 2021 DAKAR
“I made a comparison from the first moment, because at first I was a little worried. The sensations are a little different for a few hours, so I hope to be fine, to be fresh and open maybe, so that it lasts little. calm in that sense. Wait for the sensations to come and for everything to flow. You have to push forward”.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
