Date: January 9th

Stage: Stage 4

Stage Distance: Liaison > 332 km – Special > 299 km

Stage Ranking: 5th in the QUAD category

Race summary:  Tuesday was the second day of the marathon stage in the Dakar Rally. The athletes spent the night separately from their teams, and the vehicles waited for the start in parc ferme. Such marathons becomes a maximum test for both athletes and their equipment. CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team pilot A. Kanopkinas made it through without any major problems and said that the mood was great after reaching the finish line.

“The day was very good, the track fast. In one place, I got a little lost – I got involved in unnecessary route searches together with other participants. A choice had to be made: take a risk looking for a point, or drive on and miss it. I decided to drive, I’ll probably get a time penalty for that, but no big deal. We are at the finish line before dark, the quad is healthy, and the mood is great,” said A. Kanopkinas and joked that he wanted the most now to take a shower and have a quiet dinner.

The athlete also said that the quad performed without any problems today. According to preliminary results, the CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team driver finished fifth today, 42 minutes behind the leader. After today, A. Kanopkinas is tentatively in the sixth place in the overall standings of quad category, and T. Vingut is only five minutes behind.

Tomorrow, the athletes will have to get up very early – 508 kilometers await them before the start of the stage. It‘s good that it will be short, only 118 kilometers, and after the finish, only 19 km will wait until the bivouac. The organizers hinted that tomorrow the participants will already enter the Empty Quarter sand sea, where the dunes will become bigger and bigger.