“Until you cross the finish line, anything can happen in Dakar“This is one of the repeated phrases every day in the bivouac of all the participants. And the clearest example is what happened to the two Spaniards, both co-drivers, fighting for the Dakar title in T4 (light vehicles) in the final stage, we are referring to Oriol Vidal, co-driver of Rokas Baciuska, and Oriol Mena, co-driver of Eryk Goczal.
The first to cross the finish line at the end of the special was Eryk, along with Mena. The young Polish driver, only 18 years old, had tears in his eyes, very close. He considered his second position closed and was only waiting for his rival Baciuska to reach the finish line to find out how much time he had left to win his first Dakar.
Oriol Mena attended MD then, regretting not winning, but grateful for the opportunity to share the Dakar with someone like Goczal. “I got a family. This is the best I’ve seen in motorsport. A mature, educated and hard working boy. an amazing talent” he pointed out, proud of the work done, but with some tears of sadness at not achieving success.
Then came Dani Oliveras, Yacopino’s Catalan co-driver in the premier class (seventh overall in cars). Dani, Mena’s friend, alerts her that she saw Baciuska with problems. Young Eryk began to drool some nervously as he tried to check the times, unable to due to the lack of coverage. A few minutes passed like this, until the confirmation came when the father of Eryk, third overall, Marek Goczal arrived. She parked next to her and hugged her son, both crying with joy.
This is the image of Dakar. A crying father and son embraced by the surprise of winning a Dakar. Oriol Mena attended MD again without believing. He repeated that to Goczal “a star is born”. However, there will be another script twist in the story. Oriol Mena suddenly stopped talking when he saw his pilot Eryk start running towards his car. Something happened.
Apparently, Marek Gozal (the father) asked him if they had been at the end of the special for a long time, waiting, and if they had solved the problem with the left arm of the rear suspension. He reminds them that… they need to fix their car quickly to get to the end of the stage in time. They are at the end of the special, but not on the stage, because they have to complete the 100km contact to finish and reach the time control on time. They could lose the Dakar because of carelessness, because of hazing, because of staying there waiting when they thought they didn’t win.
They quickly went to the car, quickly adjusted the suspension arm and quickly ran to the end of the stage. “Only one hour left. 100 km to go,” Mena told MD. It looks like they didn’t come and they will lose it. But half an hour later, Mena reassured everyone by saying that it was okay if they were late. They will both win. The father gave them the fear of their lives. They paid for the hazing, and luckily for them, they’ll remember it as an anecdote from their first Dakarian title.
A few meters behind was Oriol Vidal, Baciuska’s co-driver, who led this final stage. I can not believe. He cried uncontrollably. “This is the Dakar,” he said, showing the gimbal that was broken from his car when they won the Dakar. He could barely speak. He lost the title in the final meters.
Some cried for joy. Others, in sorrow. Such is this race. As Sainz told MD, “you hate the Dakar and you love it”. There was the best example.
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.
