Today didn’t start out too well for everyone here in Morocco as two of the ERT technicians were killed and three of the organization officials were seriously injured in a car accident en route to the start of the special. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and co-workers who must now carry on without them.

Now to today’s stage —>

As a result of the accident we had a two hour delay which was really tough as we were sitting in the hot sun with no shade at all. The course today was very very rocky, in fact, every single member of our team did not like it. The 690 KTM enduro that I am riding is definitely not suited for this kind of terrain – the suspension is absolutely stock so it cannot absorb the kind of impact the bike is receiving…so it is very difficult to ride. My body is taking a huge pounding, particularly my injured hand. On the positive side I went from last place to 5th place on Stage 1 and today I only dropped 1 place. Given how hard I was fighting the bike, I am pretty happy with that, in fact just happy to have finished today. The rest of the team had their own issues. David Dickinson (from UK) had an encounter with a rock that resulted in a big crash – he damaged his bike pretty good and will have some nice bruises tomorrow, but other than that he is ok. The same cannot be said for Rick Hatswell of Vancouver. I visited him in the medical center tonight and he showed me his xrays. It looks like a very bad break in his leg. He seems to be in good spirits…last I saw him he was trying to convince the medical staff to allow him a beer which they declined. Justin Carter (UK) is fighting the flu and feels pretty rough tonight. Tomorrow we encounter sand and sand dunes. I am hoping that the KTM will perform better in that terrain.

Don described the course as “rocks, rocks, and more rocks and we’re not talking pebbles.” The Bike had a problem with the suspension on the first stage, it didn’t have any. Bernie was able to make it a bit better at the neutralization break which allowed Don to ride the second stage. Apparently after the race Bernie was still working on the suspension at 2AM Monday, local time.

Day one of the Rally has been tough on Don’s body as well. He twisted his knee and re-injured his right hand but he says he is okay to ride tomorrow.

Don will start in 5th place in the Enduro class tomorrow (Monday).