Kiffa – Kayes
10th January 2006

Due to the untimely death of Austrailian KTM rider Andy Caldecott, stage 10 of the 2006 Euromilhoes Dakar Rallye was cancelled.

“We still had to ride the stage,” explained Plumb “But it was just classed as a liaison so there was no timing. It would have been a beautiful stage, with some great dirt tracks through the savanna, but after over 20 hours on the bike yesterday and about 2 hours sleep last night I was just so tired that it was hard work.”

Nick rode the entire stage with Race to Dakar rider Simon Pavey.

“It was a bit of a skive today,” said Nick “At one point we stopped under a tree and watched the cars racing by while Simon phoned his wife back in the UK. We were riding for about 7 hours and got to the Bivouac quite early. I’ve had a shower and I’m just waiting for a massage and then I think I’ll crash for a good nights sleep.”

“There aren’t many of us left now, yesterday really knocked a lot of people out. I’m a little worried at the moment because my bikes making some strange noises but I probably shouldn’t be. Bernie (my mechanic) has managed to do a great job so unless it’s something seriously wrong I’m sure Bernie will fix it for me.”

Tomorrows stage sees the competitors travel through forests and savannas on narrow tracks that could cause problems for cars and trucks as u-turns could prove tricky.