Dakar 2015, Stage 7: After a day of rest, the cold and rainy stage in Bolivia

After a well-deserved day without racing, the bikers drove across the trail at 4.700 meters above sea level to a plateau in Bolivia. The resident continues to arrive at the finish line in wet and rainy weather without any navigation or technical errors. He reached the 40th largest salt lake in the world; overall remains 37. The fastest on the stage was Goncalves with a 14-second lead over Como. With Barreda barely twelfth, he narrowed the gap to six-and-a-half minutes in Coma’s overall standings.

After a day of rest, or rather a day without racing, the motorcyclists continued with the seventh stage, starting at 5 am. This led them from the Pacific coast in an easterly direction to Bolivia, where they will spend the night today without technical assistance at Lake Uyuni, the largest salt lake in the world. Peaceful Resident describes the situation on the seventh stage: "I have a fond memory of Bolivia from the previous Dakars, and this time I will try to forget the marathon stage as soon as possible. It was three degrees below zero at the pass, currently it is five degrees Celsius here. Because it was raining during the day, occasionally hail, we all got to the bone, all our equipment was too wet. In the barracks, where we will spend the night, we received woolen cloaks, a T-shirt and a thermal sweater, but since the barracks are not heated, we will not be able to dry the equipment overnight. We have no choice but to put on wet equipment in the morning and go on to fight. "

Since motorcyclists will spend tonight without the help of mechanics, masseurs and other assistance, they have to prepare their own motorcycle. Asked whether he expected problems due to worn tires at tomorrow's stage, Stanovnik answered: “No, I don’t think there will be a problem. Today we drove in the wet and on such terrain the tires wear less. However, I expect the organizer to change the route, as driving across a salt lake in such weather would be dangerous. We will probably just walk around the lake instead of crossing. "

He reached the finish line the fastest Paolo Goncalves with Honda, and only 14 seconds slower was Marc Coma (KTM). As the leader in the overall standings, Joan Barreda Bort from the Honda factory team, finished only in 12th place, Comi managed to reduce the gap to six minutes and 28 seconds. Goncalves is currently in third place with 11 minutes behind team-mate Barredo.

The motorcyclists will return to Iquique tomorrow along the 805-kilometer route, where they have their day of rest for the crew in cars and trucks. The stage will end with a famous sand descent towards the Pacific coast.

Video: 7th stage

Photos: Peaceful Resident