Further down the stage you bog down in the heavy dunes. A shovel and elbow grease are all you need to escape, but its happens again. And again. All the while the leader is disappearing further up the road.
There’s a bike in the distance, and the rider’s in trouble too. Harsh as it may sound, a lone figure in the distance is better company than the tyre marks nearby, signs of assistance too far away to help.
You’ve slipped to sixth on the stage, but a hell-for-leather charge across the final clicks means you’ve at least held on to second overall. But you can’t catch Jean-Louis Schlesser, and he takes a record sixth Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge victory.
You’re not downhearted though. To finish second, ahead of Patrick Sireyjol, after a seven year absence is pretty impressive. Plus it’s good preparation for the next event in Qatar. Who knows? Perhaps there’s more to come from Dubai’s own Khalifa Al Mutaiwei.