In the Dakar, motorcycles no longer have favourites: "This is like preparing for the Olympic Games"

The Dakar, like everything in life, is transformed.

In the motorcycle category, the race is more disputed than ever, and the rhythm of the wise new tides the most veterans of the bivouac.

“I am looking closer to the day when they kick me out and kick me out,” explains Toby Price (Hillston, Australia, 35 years old), third place overall and winner of the 2016 and 2019 editions. “It is a constant fight .

There are 12 or 13 guys who can win this race, and it's not bad news, because we like to compete.

Measuring against so many pilots is exciting”.

In the 2023 edition, only Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) and Ross Branch (Hero), winner of the tenth stage, have managed to repeat their victory: ten special stages and eight different winners.

“There is no one above the rest.

There are a lot of solid drivers, all the ones that are out there right now.

Maybe mostly Skyler [Howes] or Kevin [Benavides], but they've all gone well.

Perhaps the most irregular has been [Daniel] Sanders, but he's still there", assesses Joan Barreda (Torreblanca, 39 years old), winner of the fourth stage and abandoned Honda after suffering three falls, a broken big toe and another of the L2 vertebra in the lower back in this edition.

“The level of the race is super demanding in terms of navigation, but the level of the drivers has risen a lot.

They all sail well and they all pull very hard.

I remember when I jumped the dunes and they called me crazy.

Now the first 15 of the classification do it.

Are they all crazy?

No, it's just that this is another way of rallying”.

At the gates of the Rub' al Kahli desert and the marathon stage, Kevin Benavides (KTM) is the overall leader (35h46m06s) with a minute and a half margin over Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) and two over Price (KTM).

With four stages left to go, the first nine classifieds are within a 24-minute gap, a scenario that opens up endless possibilities.

The professionalization of the discipline is behind so much equality.

"This is like preparing for the Olympic Games, everything is focused on a single event," says Lorenzo Santolino (Salamanca, 35 years old), eleventh in the general classification.

“I am 100% focused on the Dakar, it is the objective of the year.

You do other races, but everything is done with this one in mind”.

The structures of the teams are now turning to the training and racing plan, also that of smaller projects such as that of Sherco, a Spanish-French manufacturer based in Nimes and a factory in Caldes de Montbui.

The pilots now have a psychologist, nutritionist, physical trainer and even their own doctor posted to the race.

“At a motivational level it is not easy to start in February or March, but you must go looking for objectives and incentives.

Training a month in advance is easy, but that's when you should have everything done already”, confirms the man from Salamanca.

“If one trains a lot, the other trains more.

They all follow the same direction during the preparation”, says Joan Pedrero (Canet de Mar, 44 years old), one of the most respected members of the caravan and at the time a backpacker of a legend like Marc Coma on KTM.

“This has changed a lot.

The new generations are going up strong and the teams make everyone train a lot.

They are putting the batteries”.

The regulation has also helped to equalize the forces.

“I don't see anyone above.

I think we all compete on equal terms.

In terms of top speed, we have a restriction of 160km/h and most factories can reach that”, assesses Price, who ensures that navigation and the bonuses for leading in the first kilometers of the stage could be key in the final week.

For Barreda, already as a spectator, victory "will be closer than ever."

Pedrero, who has seen them in all colors, watches the battle from the middle of the classification -he is 21st at 3h21m42s-.

“I would not like to be in the shoes of my teammates.

The differences are very small and they all go very fast.

This week the one who runs the fastest will not win, but the one with the most courage, and that is very risky in an area with cut dunes”,

Santolino, meanwhile, aspires to enter the Top 5. "In a navigation error you can lose 15 minutes, and I am 20 minutes from the goal," he is motivated.

In the dunes of the empty quadrant - as this inscrutable desert in Saudi Arabia is known -, with mountains of sand up to 250 meters high, one of the most exciting motorcycle races in memory will be decided.

In an edition where champions such as Sam Sunderland (2022) and Ricky Brabec (2020) have abandoned, Price, one of the best positioned, points to perseverance and leaves a phrase to reflect on: "To be the first, you must first cross the line goal every day”.

You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on