Dakar : Before the start of the Leg 10
Last night, at 10.00 pm, 45 bikes out of the 132 at the star, 16 cars out of the 114 at the start and 2 trucks out of the 52. Among the many that are still expected at the bivouac is Ronn Bailey, seen off the special course, and 30km from the tarmac heading to Kiffa.
Last night 11.20 pm – Sainz towed
Carlos Sainz has only just made it to the Volkswagen workshop. After clocking the fastest time at CP3, the Spaniard suffered severe problems. “The engine was really doing a strange noise. I preferred to stop but I was still 15km away from the finish SO I waited and was eventually towed by the Race Touareg of Stéphane Henrard. That`s the way races can go… Now if I manage to finish and win another stage, it`ll have been worthwhile.”

Esteve operated
Isidre Esteve Pujol that heavily crashed yesterday was taken to a Nouakchott hospital where he went through surgery for a ruptured spleen and a head trauma. He entered the operation room at 21:00 and left it an hour later. The operation went well.

The absents
Not a lot of competitors left at km 340 of the special. Biker Ludovic Mathis is however still expecting the broom-wagon truck. The competitors are slowly getting closer to the finish, driving at around 30-40 km/h. Florence Bourgnon and Corentine Quiniou are still 186 km away from the bivouac. 73 bikes, 97 cars and 44 trucks are still expected in Kiffa.

In memory of Andy
After yesterday`s terrible news of Andy Caldecott`s sad death, the bikers are on their way to Kayes, in Mali. No timed special today as a tribute to the Aussie. The first biker to take off this morning from Kiffa was yesterday`s stage winner Cyril Despres. The Bikers have 10 hours to cover the 333km of the stage.

Tags: leg-10, night, dakar, Kiffa, andy, bivouac,