Having to ride for around 100 kilometres with a broken saddle could not curtail Tim Trenker's charge towards becoming a world champion yesterday.
The Dubai motorcyclist completed yesterday's third day of the Pharoans Rally in Egypt still in second place in the Open Production Trophy category of the FIM Cross-Country Rally World Championship on his KTM-UAE bike.
The German only needs to finish the event to take the title after scoring wins earlier in the campaign in Abu Dhabi and Tunisia, but problems with his saddle gave him an uncomfortable ride yesterday.
"About 100 kilometres from the end of the stage I started having problems with my seat," Trenker said last night. "The latch broke off it and I basically had to sit on it to prevent if from coming off.
"The problem was there were lots of bumps in the latter part of the stage for which you would normally stand up on the bike. "I could not do that as if I had stood up I would have lost the seat immediately and it would have been a disaster.
"Instead I had to stay sat on the bike, letting my body soak up the bumps and I think I lost around 10 minutes as a result."
The day was split up into two legs. The first leg of 170km was a mixture of rocky terrain and soft sand, before the second 180km stage was largely made up of sand.
Trenker added: "It was an enjoyable day and the scenery in places was just phenomenal. With there being different surfaces to ride on it was a case of staying aware at all times, but I was pleased with how we did.
"I kept my pace up and was quick compared to my rivals and it is looking good."
Today's fourth day is made up of a 480km stage.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
