spanish pilot Joan Barreda (Hero) left Dakar after a mechanical problem The 529th kilometer of the queen stage of the rally forced him to stop, just before his rest day, and he could no longer accelerate his motorcycle again.
Barreda, who started this Friday in eleventh place in the general classification and one hour and three minutes ahead of the leader, could not continue the rally because he could not ride his motorcycle again due to a mechanical problem.
The man from Castellón did not have his best Dakar performance, as he picked up a total of twenty-one minutes of penalties between Sunday and Tuesday, which took him further away from his closest pursuers in the general classification. Similarly, he suffered a minor fall in the first kilometers of the stage last Wednesday and then the bike overran him in the dunes, causing “a lot of pain” in his sternum and arms.
For the first time in the last thirteen races, the native of Torreblanca (Castellón) failed to achieve victory this year. Over the last twelve years, Barreda has won at least one victory in every Dakar he has competed in..