The second week of the Dakar Rally began with more complaints about the electronic road book from motorcycle riders. Although there was a meeting between the factories and ASO, the organizer of the test, to discuss the numerous mishaps of the digital tablets newly released this year for navigation during the rest day in Hail, .
“I think it is a very good system that will be very good for the future, but it is not yet 100% ready to be able to compete in a Dakar,” Tosha Schareina, Honda driver, said on the subject at the Al Duwadimi bivouac. The 29-year-old Valencian began his comeback operation in the rally by cutting a few valuable minutes from the leader Daniel Sanders, from KTM, who still enjoys a cushion of almost 12 minutes over the Spaniard, second in the general classification. The beating of 829 kilometers, 606 of them timed, left the defending champion Ricky Brabec (Honda) as the stage winner, who set a time of 5h00m51s at the finish line of the special.
The falls of the rally-raid world champion, the Botswanan Ross Branch (Hero), who was fourth in the table, and the South African Bradley Cox (KTM), the best privateer in 12th place, The Catalan Edgar Canet (KTM), The best rookie overall at 19 years old, also suffered the first fall of his Dakar career, but was able to continue forward despite severe pain in his wrist and back.
Once the day was completed, the topic of tablets and digital route books once again generated a stir within the caravan. Schareina regretted the technological serial that has caused widespread complaints among all pilots. These problems come in addition to the attempts of the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) to compensate for the time losses caused by these failures. “I am happy with giving Daniel’s time back and whoever gets his turn, but it seems that only he can enjoy this privilege,” the Valencian harshly criticized. During the first stage, the Spaniard had conveyed his complaints to the director of the Dakar, David Castera, after finding a point on the route poorly marked in his electronic book.
Sanders received an eight-minute penalty on Thursday for breaking three speed limits, but the Australian subsequently showed that he had lost control of the digital tablet that replaces rolled paper route books, the traditional technology in the rally. They did listen to him. The stewards decided, during the rest day, to give him back the penalty time. The concession inflamed the spirits of other pilots who had complained in other stages of similar problems, from Nacho Cornejo (Hero) to Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco).
“It is a considerable change, and it has positive and negative aspects,” assured the man from Salamanca, winner of a stage in the 2025 edition, to EL PAÍS. “It opens up new possibilities for the future, with parallel or mirror routes, the option to make modifications or updates on the spot, even sending messages. With the hand on the handlebar we have more options at our disposal, where we can modify and validate the points, see distances and your traces. The issue of reflections will always be a problem, since it will never be like paper. Technology has evolved a lot, but the technical failures that we already experienced in Morocco have been repeated and can be a handicap when facing the race,” he concluded.
“It’s a love-hate relationship. You forget about the zeal and the colors, about those minutes before the stage with cold hands trying to glue the route book. With the digital one you enter a code and everything is ready,” said Javi Vega, who participates with the Chinese Kove in the unassisted category. “The sun is a problem, you have to put your head and shoulders to provide shade. When you are tired, with the passing of the days and the kilometers, it can be difficult to change from focusing on the screen and then on real life,” he added.
Castera, given the commotion generated, has assured that digital tablets have become the scapegoat of some participants and teams when things go wrong. The project of digitizing the road book is one of his personal bets, and has been developing since the 2022 edition. The general feeling of the pilots is that the technology is not yet completely ready, and many would like to take a step back and be able to return to paper.
In the car category, the day back to the competition passed without any major incidents. The Belgian Guillaume de Mevius (Mini) won with a time of 4h34m49s, while Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) lost a few minutes with the leaders of the race. South African Hank Lategan (Toyota) continues to lead the classification with seven minutes ahead of his Saudi teammate Yazeed Al Rajhi and half an hour ahead of the Qatari driver, five-time winner of the Dakar.
