UAE star Mohammed Balooshi impresses

Santiago - Balooshi fell off the bike twice, but quickly recovered to finish a challenging first leg in 9th position in the overall classification.

 UAE's Mohammed Balooshi overcame tough conditions in a rain-hit Leg 1 of Atacama Rally in Vina del Mar, Chile, a Press release said.
Balooshi fell off the bike twice, but quickly recovered to finish a challenging first leg in 9th position in the overall classification.
The organisers were forced to shorten the first leg of the race for safety reasons after heavy rain damaged some areas of the rally route.
The reduced version of the day included two loops to a zone with big dunes overseeing the Pacific Ocean near Riconto, followed by an endless road-section to reach the next bivouac.
Riconto's dunes proved to be more challenging and technical than many expected and the special stage ended with few minor crashes and mechanical troubles.
"It was a tough ride with dunes very different from the ones we have in the middle east; this region's darker sand is moist and hard which is usually very good for riding, but in this case it forms chains of small consecutive bumps which we call woops.
"They are very challenging and also take toll on the bike's suspension and the rider's body. Today was no walk in the park at all," Balooshi said.
Many world champions struggled with mechanical problems on day one of the competition, crashing and having to pick up their heavy bikes more than once and even riding over 400km to reach the bivouac at the end of the day.
Home for the night is Coquimbo, a small and exclusive touristic city next to one of the most famous beaches in the country, La Serena.
Competitors will start Leg 2 of the rally at 8am, even before sunrise to head north over what could be the most challenging day of competition.
The second day will start on a dry river bed mined with a number of serious potential dangers such as deep cracks and massive rocks that competitors will have to smartly overcome if they want to make it to the end of the day and stay on the run for the podium. This terrain's difficulties won't forgive any mistakes and competitors will be pushed to the limit of their concentration to match good navigation with the best of their riding skills in order to stay safe.
Some 200 kilometers of rough rocky terrain will follow and the leg will be completed with a very fast hard open area section.
"My team works on finding the best set up for the bike to take the best out of each type of terrain, but sometimes nature plays hard on you and things become tougher than you would like.
"Tomorrow will be a new battle and we will do our best as always, I train all year for this and my team also works day in and day out. We love what we do," said a confident Balooshi, the only Emirati athlete competing in this prestigious and demanding FIM world series.