Stage 6: Tucumán – Salta
Road connection: 242 km
Selective Section: 156 km
Neutralized Section: 164 km
Selective Section: 104 km
Road connection: 28 km
Total: 694 km
The sixth stage was the stage before the rest day in Salta, where cars will stage one more day than the bikes that will start their way to Bolivia. The sky is covered and threatens of rains but everyone is appreciating the temperatures a bit lower than the days before. Under the Xtremeplus’ tent, mechanics prepare the pieces to fix the Polaris RZR as new. Willy Alcaraz finishes the stage 51 and is now 50 overall, while Nicolas Duclos, with his co-driver Sebastian Delaunay are 64 of the stage, and 56 in the overall ranking.
Willy Alcaraz N°350: “It´s my first day without getting off of the car. The first road connection that was so beautiful it almost made me cry. During the special, even if it was a bit fast at the beginning, at the time I arrived to the sinuous part I started to have fun steering. We went on tracks and gravel, passed forests and then climbed on altitude. It was a great journey. The only thing is that when I reached 3000 meters, the engine lost about 30% of its power…
We are now in Salta, this is half of the Dakar and we really deserved the rest day because I was falling asleep during the road connection between the two selective sections. I had to put water on my face to avoid closing my eyes and when I got there, I had to start the second SS, I didn´t even had time to enjoy the landscape, it was beautiful. At those times, I would like to have a co-driver to share what I see and the emotions these amazing landscapes bring out of me.”
Nicolas Duclos/Sébastien Delaunay N°364: “The two selective sections were beautiful and much more interesting than the day before. It was nice steering and we kept a good pace, taking care of the RZR. We had one puncture, and the breaks temperature went up twice. Now we are in Salta, happy to have the rest day ahead because I was falling asleep in the road connection. It´s a hard Dakar, but we are not doing badly for the moment.”
Saturday is the rest day and Sunday, drivers get back on the roads for a loop around Salta. Monday, they will be in Chile!