BENDIGO motorcyclist Michael Burgess jumped three spots in the rankings following an impressive showing in the eighth stage of the Dakar rally in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Burgess, who is contesting the world-famous rally for the first time, finished the second of two marathon stages in 33rd position in a time of 03H 47' 47''.
The stage was won by Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo in a time of 03H 08' 40'', more than a minute ahead of Australian Toby Price.
The Chilean continues to lead the overall bike rankings on 32H 00' 11'', with Price in second place on 32H 01' 17''.
Burgess, who started Monday in 38th position, was able to climb to 35th with another bold showing in the marathon stage.
It was yet another learning curve for the Bendigo rider, who appears to be growing more and more at ease with the demands of the rally with every new day of racing.
"Day eight, the second part of the marathon, we made it through," Burgess said
"It was pretty fast, they say it was going to be pretty dangerous and stuff today, but it wasn't nothing like that. They said it was going to be really tricky, but it wasn't.
"We pushed through. I enjoyed it - I felt a lot comfier on the bike today.
"The scenery was like rocks, more rocks, and more rocks after that. But near the end we cane into some canyons and they were unreal. They were massive.
"I rode a lot better and I caught a lot of people, but it was so hard to pass because of the dust.
"At one stage there I tried to round up three riders, I got around them, (but) I was pushing straight and they all turned left. We all know about that in rally.
"I thought they're not setting a bad pace, so I stuck on them for a while and just picked them off and waited for them to make mistakes.
"It's dangerous, the rocks underneath the sand are crazy. You don't want to be hitting stuff that you can't see."
Burgess will be hoping to emulate his good form in Tuesday's ninth stage.
The 12 stage rally ends this Friday.
READ MORE:
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.