The first special of Dakar 2010 is over, and our team had a good start. The riders were back in de bivouac already before the servicetruck arrived. Tonnie Krabbenborg (137) did not like his first few hunderd meters outside the bivouac. After he met a concrete traffic rail he had a short flight with his bike. Luckily he had no injuries.

The bike was damaged, and the handlebars with all the instruments had to be replaced. After a second start from the bivouac everything went well. "I speeded a bit the make up for the lost time, so I could arrive at the special right on time and avoid a penalty. The special was great, the landscpae made me think of Turkey where I spend a lot of time training. The roadbook was great, with beautifull rivercorssings and tight corners with deep ruts lurking behind them."

Alois Ressing (141) stayed calm today. "This kind of competition challenges you to go beyond your own limits and compete one-on-one with others riders. But the dust here made me close the throttle and ride safely. It will take a few more days before everyone has found his own spot in the ranking, but I won't be caught in risky games. This morning I waited for Tonnie at the special, for over an hours. It was great to see Etienne Lavigne, manager of Dakar, adjusting my GPS himself. The people along the tracks have such an enthousiasm, that is unique. Some even had home build platforms with them!

Christopher Jarmuz (49) started relaxed. "It was very fast today and as not all corners were mentioned in the roadbook also quite dangerous. I really held back today. At the moment I am 8 minutes behind the top 20, so I can easily catch them in the course of the rally. It was a surprise to see Casteu win today! This morning it was a bit cold, but now it has gotten hot. The time left I'll use to get some sleep for the coming days. The rally is still very long."


Mirjam Pol (57) stayed behind Annie Seel today. "This first part of the special was beautifull, a track with hard sand and a lot of grip. After that it became more technical and I had a small 'ooops' when missin a corner. I went straight into the bushes, luckily without any damage. You can imagine how quick I had left those bushes again, just to make sure nobody crashed into me. For a first day it was good. The differences are small, and the main goal is to keep damages to a minimum. Tomorrow I expect to loose some time on Anie again, but when we are heading to Fiambala it will get more interesting. We did gget quite some speed today, I had 148kmh as maximum on my GPS!

Gerben Vruggink (87) enjoyed this first special, even though the first 50 kilometers had been canceld due to floods. "The first 30 km in the special were very fast, but the roadbook matched 100%. We had nice climbs, rough terrain and had to do some work to reach the finish. And best of all I have had no problems with my wrist, which was broken during training a month ago. I am satisfied today!

Patrick Trahan (93) was also in a good mood after the special. The tracks remind him of Morocco, were he often travels with groups. "I had good speed and coul ride safe and secure. Only once the GPS came loose, and I had to fix it. In the mountains I picked up a bit more speed, to stay ahead of the quads. The bike is perfect, only a few adjustments to the handlebars and I am 100% happy. I love it!"

3 januari : Cordoba - La Rioja I connection 56 km I special 294 km I connection 276 km I Totaal 626 km. Again different routes for the bikes and quads. A lot of jumps and bild corners, perfect for Enduro specialists. In the last kilometres a very rocky surface with stones.