lorenzo santolino He never stopped believing in the possibility of reaching the Top-10 of the motorcycle general in Dakar 2023. He tried his best in the last stages. The penultimate stage began in eleventh place in the standings, 7 minutes from the Top-10 due to the loss of 25 minutes of Mason Klein. And in the penultimate stage, leaving the desert of ‘Empty Quarter’, Santolino he rose to ninth position, achieving his goal at the end of the rally, due to the retirement of two of his rivals: Matthias Walkner and young Mason Klein, who had a great first week of racing.
In this way, Lorenzo can once again finish as the best Spaniard, something he already did in 2021 when he finished in sixth position. The rider of Guijuelo had a great goal of reaching the Top-5 in this test, but the enormous speed of the riders seeking victory, with better bikes and structures, made that goal impossible. The man from Salamanca then chased a Top-10 which he has now reached with just one day to go, with a good margin of tenth rank in ninth position allowing him to face the final day with great staying options in the ninth.
Santolino was 9th in 1 hour, 10 minutes and 28 seconds from the lead, 40 minutes behind the eighth classified, José Ignacio Cornejo, and had an advantage of 20 minutes over. Franco Caimi. In the last stage of only 136 kilometers, arriving at the coast of the Persian Gulf, at Dammamthat is almost impossible Santolino may cut off his absence from Cornejo, as he may grant caimi. The only problem with either of them is that it can apparently change the general. The Spaniard could have had a wider margin over the tenth-place finisher had he not had to change engines before the marathon stage, which cost him a 15-minute penalty. After that, he struggled in the Top-10, but he kept pushing and he was there.
“We are at the end, another stage. More sand today, the first zone with higher and softer ridges and the last part of the stage more undulating and fast. Visibility was poor, in some directions the sun was behind us and even if there were traces, the sand being so dry they were not very marked and in the wind they were barely visible. I was careful because the result changed little, in the last few days I pressed where I saw it well and kept it in places with more doubts, “said the man from Salamanca.
“Too bad, I saw Walkner down, with the helicopter taking care of him”He commented on his Austrian rival, who had to leave. “There are areas that are deceiving, like there is no back and there is a cut. Sometimes it is not very big, but if you jump you can create a very strong compression and hurt yourself. I cut in these areas, it will be noticeable in the result when the day, but now three or four more minutes in the special doesn’t change much, so getting to the end is the most important thing,” he added.
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.
