Dakar 2023 – Guerlain Chicherit re-motivated: “Why not return to the top 10, or even the top 5? »

It is in moments of adversity that we see what athletes are made of. In this area, Guerlain Chicherit (GCK) is made of oak! The former freeride skier scored his first stage victory in 10 years on a Dakar the day after a nightmarish day.

ALSO READ > Dakar 2023 – Stage 3: Chicherit’s audacity rewarded, Sainz unscrews

Dropped at 3:30 a.m. this Tuesday from the leader Carlos Sainz (Audi), the driver-entrepreneur, associated with Alex Winocq, had set himself a very simple goal in this third stage. “I left this morning with the objective of winning this special. When a plan goes smoothly, it's nice. »

🏆 The @Prodrive Hunter of @GChicherit has taken victory on stage 3 of @dakar 2023 with a 3 min 26 secs advantage over second place.

Orlando Terranova was just 5 mins 4 secs back of Chicherit after the stage was shortened from 447 kms to 378 kms due to, ironically, rain storms. pic.twitter.com/7az41uJZCf

- Bahrain Raid Xtreme (@BRaidXtreme) January 3, 2023

The five punctures suffered during the second stage are ancient history, or almost. “Today, there was no puncture… well, yes, there was one! It occurred on the side, like yesterday (Monday). However, I was careful. I rode in “cool” mode in the stones. It's crazy, the stones are super sharp, it's very difficult to avoid them. When I felt the tire deflate, I was surprised because I didn't notice when I had punctured my tire. »

Guerlain Chicherit will continue to ride on the same dynamic for the rest of the competition. “ This victory feels good. The team was feeling a little down last night, we were setting off for this Dakar with great ambitions. With Seb (Loeb), we said to ourselves that we had to go for each remaining stage, in order to score points in the world championship (W2RC), because there is nothing more to do. »

This stage success would almost give wings to the winner of the Rally of Morocco 2022. “Why not get back into the top 10, or even the top 5? » he asks himself with a mentality adapted to the extreme weather of this stage (rain having forced the interruption of the special).

“The more difficult the conditions, the more I like it, he admits. This is where we must succeed in making the difference. Visibility was low, the water made places more complicated to negotiate and navigation evolved because tracks could be erased in the sand.

The more difficult it is, the more things will happen. We are so far away (47th at 3h11'48'' from Nasser Al-Attiyah), that, without wishing any harm to the other competitors, these are the conditions which can allow us to move up in the general standings. »