“Do you hate Dakar or do you love it”said Carlos Sainz to MD a few years ago. This is a phrase that most Dakarians repeat to themselves. Depending on how the race treats you, it can be amazing when you reach the final finish line, or a real torture. Examples of the Spaniard who may have hated him in the early days of this trial are many. own Carlos, Laia Sanz, Nani Roma, Cristina Gutiérrez, Joan Font, Gerard Farrés, Eduard Pons, Josep Pedro, Iván Merichal or Javi Vegaamong others, as well as the protagonist of this story, Ferran Zaragoza.
For any newbie, like this 40 year old lawyer, born in Betrayal (Tarragona) but living in Madridreach the Dakar It was an important experience, a big challenge, like preparing to climb 8,000 without a professional. It involves several years of competitions and a previous year full of stress to combine with everyday life and work.
The excitement is intense when these types of drivers, who give the most important meaning to the toughest race in the world, achieve the goal of qualifying to be at the finish line of the Dakar. The next goal, The biggest is reaching the end goal. And on that difficult path is where many of them know the harshest part of the trial.
Ferran Zaragoza He abandoned stage 2, early in the grueling 48-hour time trial. He again noticed a hole in his back, the worst news after working hard to overcome a serious injury sustained in Morocco Rally 2023.
A bad past injury
In it Morocco Rally 2023Ferran fell down a five-foot dune. He remained lying on the ground for 10 minutes, and after that, he gained strength from which he could not continue. He made 100 kilometers more to finish that stage and came out to compete in stage 2. However, on the third day, he was alarmed by severe pain. Something is not right. And then he fell again and had to leave. He later discovered that he had been driving for the last two days with two broken vertebrae, four discs and two broken ribs.
A difficult recovery process began, spending 4 months wearing a corset. If you want to go to Dakar 2025had to speed up and on March 1, 2024, he was discharged. A month later, the April 2he has already accelerated his motorcycle in the World Cup event Portugal Rally and also competed with Route 40 Challenge, in Argentina. But a year later, in the place where it all began, one of the Morocco Rally 2024Another hole in his back warned him and he had to surrender. A small intervention has to be carried out to prevent the disease from reappearing in Dakar, so that the discomfort does not happen again. But they came. He was forced to leave the test at 48 hours and after that, When she saw MD, on her way home, she couldn’t stop crying.
“I’m sorry that sometimes I didn’t express myself properly, because my head goes 3,000 times an hour. I was emotionally touched. I didn’t plan to end up like this, far from it. And even more fight like an animal until my last breath. And above all, for the preparation of this past year, leave work, family, something very animal, because in the end I am not a professional pilot and I did not devote myself to it. Pep Font, psychologist at the CAR of Sant Cugat, who helps me digest and process all this, told me that it will be a long time and that it is like a small sadness that I have to overcome, ” said Ferran this newspaper.
“I already knew that there was a very important injury that could not be resolved, because there was no way to do it, but we went through pain medicine, with important intervention to prevent discomfort. It shouldn’t be a problem and eventually it is. “I have felt stronger than ever and I am very happy about this part.”said.
“I arrived ahead of schedule at the end of stage 1, I did not experience a crash in the whole Dakar, I did 700 km of specials and everything was fine in navigation. But the problems happened again and again in Morocco, in this case, 100 kilometers in the first part of the 48-hour period.he argued, sinking when he remembered the internal struggle he had to maintain between his desire and reason.
“Getting out of a river of huge rocks, my back works like a switch has been flipped. Then a tingling sensation started in my toes and from then on it was an open psychological war between my mind and me. In the end the pain and the inability to drive won.”
“I refused to accept it and moved on”
“I refused to accept the fact that I had, that it represented a very important security problem. And I refused, continued 170 km more than the special, until the 2nd checkpoint the organization and the doctors stopped me. I didn’t even get off the motorcycle. I was completely nailed. They were in a very complicated position and it was night, they didn’t know what to do and the helicopters couldn’t fly.. There I voluntarily requested a transfer to Bisha by road, and everything happened in my mind there,” he said before starting to cry in anger, for not achieving the desired goal.
“Although it’s a hobby, when you work and fight it hard, “Failures affect you as much as they affect a professional pilot.”he exclaimed.
However, despite that difficulty in the race, the Dakar caught you. Heroes seem to have a kind of Stockholm Syndrome about him. They hate him, but they love him. No matter how badly he treats you, how cruel he is to you, there is no pilot who does not think of turning back after failing in an attempt. A unique sensation, created by the main challenge it represents and the extremes to which this magical date will take you, physically and psychologically.
Ferran ends his Dakar story on a motorcycle and that increases his sadness. But His smile brightened as he realized the future was full of new doors openingother challenges, such as four wheels. Zaragoza is just one example of the inner journey people seek in Dakar. I compare it to the Camino de Santiago. Everyone’s life on the path is different, and everyone, with their own story, their own learning. And that path is far from over.
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.
