Dakar | Barreda has no fractures but fears he won't be able to continue

The Spanish driver was close to finishing the fifth special stage of the 2024 Dakar and, although he failed to get close to the lead, he didn't seem to have too many problems finishing the 118 kilometer timed course. However, just as he was about to cross the finish line at the Shubayath bivouac, the Torreblanca rider flew off his bike and fell into the desert sand of the Empty Quarter.

Still sore from the accident, Joan Barreda spoke to the media, including Motorsport.com, in his team tent, interrupting his muscle massage for a moment to explain what happened: “We all started pushing hard, you could see from the tracks that everyone was pushing hard. At around kilometer 30 I saw a dune, I accelerated, I jumped and, when I landed again, the bike stopped and I didn't fall completely, but I hit the handlebars with my body” .

“From that moment the cap device was disconnected, so I had to look down to check, and about 20 or 30 kilometers from the end, there was camel grass, and I was badly positioned with the front tire, so I fell,” continued the Spaniard . “There I hit it really hard, the bike fell on me again, on my chest, and I have a lot of pain in my sternum. The problem is that it depends on the position of my arms and it hurts a lot.”

The Hero driver has been to the medical center and assured that he has no fractures, but he doesn't know if he will be able to continue the 2024 Dakar: “They took an x-ray of my sternum and it's not fractured, but there must be something because otherwise it wouldn't hurt that much. Let's see what happens tomorrow, it's clear that we need to feel good physically, and the situation is that we need to push as hard as we can in this race.”

“For this you need to be physically fit. The mentality is to give your best, but it wasn't easy from the start. I went against the grain and today was the right day to push hard, but it wasn't like that “, continued the Spaniard, who will try to start the special. “I'll try, but it will all depend on the pain. I want to go and hit the gas.”

When asked if it was difficult to get to the finish line of the special, he replied: “It was a bit difficult. Goncalves arrived and my bike wouldn't start. I told him I was fine and he fell right in front of me. At that point we set off again and went together until the end of the special.”