This is the Dakar bivouac at night: seeing is believing

The bivouac of Dakar It is a city that never sleeps. From the tent where he sleeps MDyou can’t help but hear the cars, trucks and motorcycles passing by on the bivouac’s main street. They are the mechanics, who after fixing the breakdowns on the cars in the middle of the night, dealing with the cold, sand storms and whatnot, have to prove that the cars are ready to go out on the special. And if that means working all night, they do it with a smile.

Near the central square, on one of the 10 streets full of equipment and help, we saw an Argentinian mechanic pulling the motorcycle with his hands in the sand. ?What are you doing there at 1 in the morning? Don’t miss his explanation.

“The pilot finished the stage recently and I have to take the motorcycle to refuel. And because I don’t have a helmet and I’m the mechanic, I have to drag it because otherwise they will fine you,” he argued.

“I will go to bed now and get up at 4. I will sleep for 3 hours, so today is a good day. If the bike arrives with damage, I will work all night”. That’s when MD asks the million dollar question: Is it worth it?

“I carry it in my soul”

“How can I explain a passion to you? I do it because of passion. Not for money, or anything else. I carry it with my soul. i like it You come, you suffer through it, and every year, when we get together as friends, we say: ‘What are we doing here?’. And next year we will be here again, and we will be in the Argentine championship, and always the same. “It’s a passion,” says this hero, an example of the many mechanics and engineers who are often overlooked and to whom MD wants to give a voice and a face in his report.

As Jacky Ickx told us, thanks to them, working together to give the tools to the pilotsathletes can achieve their successes. Shadow heroes who live in this sport in a strange, inexplicable way, perhaps irrationally, simply, out of pure passion, as this Argentine opponent said.

We went at that time to Ford M-Sportthe team Carlos Sainz and Nani Romealthough the Madrid native is no longer in the race. There, the 3 Raptor T1+ Those who stay on track have rest covered.

We chatted with one of their mechanics, who breathed a sigh of relief: “I started at 7 in the morning and now I finished, 1 in the morning. I finished half an hour ago, a long day. All the men work on the cars and when the car is ready, the number 1 mechanic and the engineer do a test run (they take it to test it in a straight line near the bivouac). And now we are done. “I’m going to sleep,” he expressed.

We went with the help of MD Rallye Sport. “How many hours can we work at night? All night. If the car breaks down, yes. Tonight is fine, so I hope to finish work at two in the morning.”one of his staff said with a smile.

Then, we head to the Catalan team Pedregà group and its motorcycle department, andl Rieju Pedregà.

“I’m waiting for Marc Calmet’s bikewhich is still in the desert and we will see what time it comes. Then you have to leave it ready for its departure in the early morning, at 6.40 in the morning. “It hasn’t arrived yet and there are about 5 hours to go and we still have to fix the bike.”ensuring Marc’s motorcycle mechanic there the legendary mechanic David Palmada, ‘Pelut’, appeared on the scene with the 25 Dakar. Whenever he can, he tries to bring these kinds of moments to his thousands of followers on social networks. Yesterday he allowed himself more than deserved luxury.

“I was lucky, it was the first day I finished in a decent time because we rebuilt the bike in the rest phase and it was at its best and I allowed myself the luxury of doing what I love, an Instagram live stream”he pointed to this newspaper, a little excited, before hugging the motorcycle.

“I work since 7 in the morning. I won’t sleep all night and I will rest when the stage starts. Better not to calculate the hours I worked. But this is what Dakar is looking for. It was an intense two weeks, but it was worth it. “We’re looking for it.”certainty of his companion.

Lluc and his SSV

A little further, the men from Pedro They build Classic cars, with their hoods open. In the background, Lluc puts the finishing touches on the light car (SSV) of Gerard Farres after a few hard days.

“On days like today, when the car hasn’t arrived too damaged and is relatively intact, we check that there is no damage and everything is tight, we change the oils, air filter and then we test it a little and look on the computer. technician the car’s parameters to get everything right And then refuel and it’s ready for tomorrow.”declared Lluc, his face full of dust and sand, making sure that when it was time for them to drive, it would be a joy, and some team members who had never been in a car, taking advantage of those magical moments to get of in the co-driver’s seat, all night A joy and a unique memory of so much effort.

Lluc and his companions were lucky. If Farrés’ car arrived with significant damage, they would not have slept all night. “This Dakar, we’ve been working three whole nights in a row on this car and the others until we finish them. And when we finish them they come out to do the stage. You can finish in work around 6 or 7 in the morning,” he explained.

Between the Pedregà Team and the dining room and in the central square of the bivouac is one of the most magical places: the place that is set for the competitors in the purest category of all, the Original by Motul motorcycle class, where novice riders compete without receiving mechanical assistance, repairing their motorcycles with their own hands at night after long periods and with accumulated fatigue. And after that, they sleep without luxury in a tent right next to the hanging suits, waiting for tomorrow’s action, with all the motorcycles covered. It seems that when MD went to that place, at two o’clock in the morning everyone had finished fixing their motorcycles even though many of them had arrived at night.

We decided to go to the tent. Some of the press colleagues were resting inside the press room, stretched out on the floor, to protect themselves from the cold. MD chose the store. It started to rain lightly.

The motorcycle ritual before the battle

We slept for 2 hours listening to the noise of car engines driven by mechanics. We rested for 2 hours and woke up again. The time has come to live a magical, unique moment, the past ritual of motorcycle riders to go on stage. It’s 5 in the morning. Daniel Sanders, general leader, left the caravan with a jacket, wearing warm. Motorcycles were needed make 150 km of contact before the special road, in the cold, at dawn, and then reach the starting point of the stage, take off the cover, and full speed.

Then, applause erupted. The team, included Jordi Viladoms in front, waiting Sanders in front of the help tent for their motorcycles. RHe revved his motorcycle engine, got out to applause and left the start of the stage.

He did the same Edgar Canet. His father Albert was waiting for him outside the caravan so as not to disturb him, so that Edgar would have time.put on the suit, the protections and the coat, and reflect. He had to leave one day after falling and hurting his hand and scratching his back. Kevin Benavides arriveswhich he abandoned due to a previous injury. She gives him some instructions and tells him that the day before he embroidered it after the fall. Also Jordi Viladoms He pampered his new gem of the present and future and gave him information for the stage.

Edgar Canet came out, joined in a strong and sincere embrace with his father, both knowing the dangers that the pilot takes in this sport, where the pilot accelerates at full speed through the terrain full of traps while looking the ‘roadbook’. That sense of danger makes the past moment resemble that of a soldier about to enter battle.

The sun is starting to rise. Motorcycles and cars share the start of the stage at the exit of the bivouac. A new day begins with the administrative check before going on the road to go to the start of the special. Another new journey to pursue dreams in a unique career.