Stage 11 of the Africa Eco Race was due to contain two specials, one on each side of the Mauritanian/Senegal border, but due to recent torrential rain, the second leg was cancelled. This left 122km of soft sand and dunes to deal with before a 300km liaison that included the border crossing before arriving at the bivouac in Mpal. Temperatures rose to over 45 degrees Celsius once again, and as the riders approached Senegal, the humidity also increased, so while the special was one of the shortest of the rally so far, it proved to be just as challenging as those that came before it.
Tarrés has been a revelation during the past two weeks, as the Spaniard, in only his second rally, had only finished outside the top ten once before Saturday’s tricky Stage 11. Determined to keep up his excellent form, he was involved in a stunning two-way battle with the rider behind him in the general classification for the last 60km of the special.
Giving it everything, he managed to stay close enough to make sure he retained his fifth position overall by finishing in fourth with a time of one hour, 45 minutes and eight seconds, to give him an overall time of 50 hours, 16 minutes and 42 seconds.
With the final stage in Dakar more of a parade on Sunday, the 29-year-old has effectively also managed to win the +700 class for twin-cylinder adventure bikes and will create history tomorrow when he crosses the line as the first bike of this type ever to finish the Africa Eco Race.
