Portimao - Malaga
1st January 2006
After two European stage the Dakar now leaves for Morocco to start the African leg of the Euromilhoes Dakar Rallye.
The second stage saw the riders and drivers travel on a short 65km liaison stage to the start of a 115km special stage (the longest European special stage the Dakar has ever seen). The rider gotto experience the weather that the Algarve is famous for as they sped down fast mountainous tracks.
"I really enjoyed that" explained Team Touratech rider Nick Plumb at the end of the stage "I started the stage wearing standard lense goggles but it's so sunny out there that I just had to stop and dig out my tinted ones".
“The stage wasn’t really ideal for the big BMW, it was really slippery in some stages, but the bike handled it without any problems. The end was great, there were hundreds of spectators waiting for us all to arrive and we got loads of cheers from the crowd. My family drove from the last stage in Portimao to meet me here and it was good for them to see behind the scenes of a Dakar stage and to say a final goodbye before I go to Africa”
After the special stage there was a mammoth 387km liaison to Malaga ferry port where the riders departed on a 7 hour crossing to the first African stage in Morocco.
“The liaison between the end of the special and Malaga was so big that the Dakar organisers said that we could put our bikes in a van and drive down there. My bike was sorted for a van so I hitched a lift with Dave Newman, the driver of the Race to Dakar van”
“I got a great nights sleep on the ferry. I wore a set of Earplugs that another Dave of Ultimate Earplugs made for me before last years Dakar. The only downside is that they are so good that when everyone was shouting me to wake up I didn’t hear them so I overslept until about 5am in the morning. It’s good though as it means I can start the Morocco stages that little bit fresher”
After the second stage Nick is in 70th place with Race to Dakar riders Matt Hall, Simon Pavey and Charley Boorman in 110th, 114th and 121st respectively.