 
JAVIER CAMPOS: THE ROOKIE'S CHALLENGE IN THE DAKAR.
We approached Spanish rider Javier Campos to get a closer look at how he is
experiencing his first participation in the toughest motor race in the world. A
metalworking entrepreneur and resident of the Villa de A Estrada, in the
province of Pontevedra, at the age of fifty-four, he decided to take a break
from his daily tasks to fulfill the great dream of participating in the Dakar
Rally.
In the Saudi town of Al-Ula, Javier Campos is finalizing the necessary
preparations to get his motorcycle ready. He spends time with the other riders
and closely interacts with his more than 600 friends and followers who, through
a WhatsApp group, don't want to miss the daily updates of this rider,
affectionately referred to as "Campiños" using the Galician
diminutive.
Prologue: Alula - Alula. Special: 27 km. Liaison: 130 km.
"Prologue finished! I took it easy, as planned. There were two waypoints I
didn't pass. I suppose it was to cut a bit. They're telling me it happened to
others too, so let's see what happens. For today, we're done. Now we have to
take some photos at the bivouac and rest for tomorrow, when it all really
begins."
Ultimately, the organizers applied a 15-minute penalty to Campos for each of the
waypoints he did not validate in the prologue, relegating him to the 135th
position in the starting order for the first stage and also in the overall
classification. Aware that penalties are part of the race, Campos remains
positive and with the eagerness intact to face the next day.
Stage 1: AlUla-Al Henakiyah. Special: 414 km. Liaison: 27 km.
The organization had already informed about the toughness of the first three
stages of this Dakar, but it was hard to anticipate the dimension in the opening
stage. From the early morning, there were withdrawals, first Joaquim Rodrígues
from the Hero Motosports Team Rally and then the Spanish rider Tosha Schareina,
an official rider for the Monster Energy Honda Team, both due to strong crashes
that took them out of the race. Others like South African Michael Docherty or
Spaniard Isaac Feliu also had to abandon for different reasons.
Javier Campos arrives at the bivouac in the middle of the night. He had to cover
the last kilometers of the special with very little visibility due to the dust
raised by the cars that were overtaking him and a sun that was setting on the
horizon.
"The stage was quite tough. Fast at the beginning, with some plains, and
doing my job, but after refueling, they took us through volcanic rock paths
where it was almost impossible not to fall. I think no one passed through there
without falling. A couple of times I almost came to a stop because you couldn't
ride, and without consequences, but there were many problems for many riders.
Enduro has nothing to do with this: almost flat climbs where it was impossible
to stay on the bike, and kilometers and kilometers... just when you think it's
ending, the same terrain comes back again and again almost until the end. I did
well, sometimes gaining positions and other times losing, depending on how I
felt. Physically I'm okay. Tired but good.
I finished at night. I thought I would arrive during the day, but in the last
kilometers, the cars started passing me... there's a lot of dust, it was already
getting dark. I couldn't see well. I had to switch to clear glasses, and still,
I couldn't see, so I went into a safety mode. It didn't matter if I arrived ten
minutes earlier or later. I think we all did the same."
We know that Campos regrets starting so far back, but emotionally he seems very
well. He is ready for the announced toughness of Dakar 2024, and as long as he
doesn't get injured, he is prepared for whatever comes.
Javier started from the 135th position, and in this first stage, he managed to
finish in the 125th position after eight hours and twenty-eight minutes of the
special.
 Stage
2: Al Henakiyah - Al Duwadimi. Special: 463 km. Liaison: 192 km.
Campos is cautious and satisfied with the work he had planned to do. For these
early stages, the plan was to start with a lower gear and go at the pace
dictated by the circumstances. In this regard, Javier seems to keep a cool head,
sticking to the plan and maintaining a safety margin.
"Today went very well. The first part was very fast. About twenty
kilometers very fast, and then about fifty kilometers of dunes with very soft
sand. I fell a couple of times almost stopped, so nothing happened to me. Then
quite fast, but I go at my pace, not running too much. I can run a lot more, but
I don't want to because every day four or five riders are falling, and I aim to
finish. Today Carles fell twenty kilometers from the finish, and it doesn't look
good." Campos lamented upon arrival at the bivouac and said, "I won't
push it harder. This is very tough, but the body holds up, and it recovers from
one day to the next."
Campos improved his classification again, and after six hours and fifty-three
minutes of battling against the clock, he secured the 119th position in the
overall standings.
Stage 3: Al Duwadimi - Al Salamiya. Special: 438 km. Liaison: 295 km. 1st
part of the marathon stage.
Campos wakes up eager to share his daily experience on social media and doesn't
hesitate to upload photos and videos of the start of this first part of the
marathon stage, indicating his good mood.
From today's start until the end of tomorrow's stage 4, riders will only have
two hours of assistance after finishing today's stage, allowing their mechanics
to perform the necessary maintenance and repairs to reach the goal of the next
day. Avoiding falls and preserving the mechanics will be crucial to achieving
the marathon stage objective.
Upon arrival at the bivouac, we collected Javier Campos' impressions, visibly
affected by fatigue: "It's very cold, and after finishing the special, they
sent us 170 km on the road. I'll wash up, have some dinner, and sleep. Today was
quite tough too, but I handled it well." He added, "I could run much
more, but I'm afraid of hurting myself. There are many cuts and dangers that are
not [indicated in the roadbook], and many riders are falling every day, and my
goal is to finish, so we'll see... there is still a long race ahead. Every day
is an adventure." He finished noticeably exhausted.
The stage has been extremely tough, and we see Javier overwhelmed by the
announced hardness of the test. Nevertheless, he is eager to push himself, but
aware of the number of retirements and injuries of other colleagues, he is
waiting for the race to change direction, stabilize, and the constant stream of
retirements due to accidents to stop. His goal is to finish the Dakar, and we
see him with a well-grounded head, aware that ranking higher on the table does
not improve or guarantee his main goal, which is to finish the race.
After the intense stages that the organization pointed out as the toughest in
the Dakar, Campos continued to improve his ranking. After completing stage 4, he
positioned himself 114th in the overall classification. In this stage, all
drivers, without exception, spent the night in tents, as is customary in the
marathon stage.
Stage 4. From Salamiya to Al-Hofuf. Special: 299km. Liaison: 332 km. 2nd
part of the marathon stage.
Like every morning, Campos bundled up to face a cold liaison from the bivouac to
the start of the special, where the organization's truck collects the riders'
warm clothing, which will be returned to them upon their return to the bivouac.
Today, he faces the shortest special of this Dakar, and upon reaching the
finish, Javier is very happy despite the discomfort he has been experiencing due
to the accumulation of kilometers and a fall in the previous Rally of Morocco:
"I handled today's stage very well. The reduction of about a hundred
kilometers in the special was noticeable. It was very fast, not too complicated,
but with a couple of scares. We just did about 20 km of dunes, which were a bit
tricky at first, but then went well. I'm very, very happy, although I have
significant back pain that I hope won't get worse, and my hands... they hurt,
but not so bad" he said as he looked at his palms with resignation.
Today, we saw a very satisfied Campos for having completed the marathon stage,
and rightfully so. He climbed in the general classification, achieving the 109th
position after four hours and forty-four minutes of timed riding.
Stage 5. Al-Hofuf - Shubaitah. Special: 118 km. Liaison: 527 km.
For this day, the organization warns that "even though there are few
kilometers of the special, they will be in the dunes of the feared Empty
Quarter, where the special kilometers count double or triple, and the average
speeds decrease considerably." Added to this is the accumulated fatigue
after covering 500 km of liaison to reach the start of the special, which always
takes its toll. Still, we see Campos genuinely happy with this stage.
"They introduced a small neutralization of about five or eight km because
the dunes were a bit tricky, very cut up, and I think they did it for us to
realize how they were. From there, they were very challenging to navigate
because they were very soft and cut up, but they weren't large, more flat, so I
handled it very well. I am very happy with the stage."
Two hours and fifty-four minutes after starting, Javier Campos finished a
challenging stage with 118 km of dunes and high temperatures, unusual for what
we have seen in the Dakar so far. Still, he managed to maintain his 109th
position in the general classification.
 Stage
6 of 48 hours. Shubaitah - Shubaitah. Special: 600 km. Liaison: 209 km.
This stage unfolds over two extremely challenging days of endless dune ridges in
the vastness of the Empty Quarter. At four-thirty in the afternoon, the
organization declared the first day finished. The riders headed to one of the
six rest areas located in the special itself, depending on each one's kilometer
point. Campos arrived at camp "A" after 200 km of dunes and suffering
from severe back pain.
"The dunes were impressive. Huge. With incredible ups and downs. I like to
ride on virgin sand to avoid having so many tracks, but it was impossible, and
the sand was very soft, so it was very easy to get stuck. I had to try some
climbs up to three times. The truth is, I enjoyed it a lot, a whole lot, but
it's also true that several falls wore me out, and with the back injury I
have... it was really taking a toll on me, so I decided to stop at the first
camp."
In the middle of the desert, the riders received a minimal camping kit and
enough food to spend the night under the stars of the Empty Quarter.
The next morning, Campos made an important decision. With 400 km of dunes
remaining, which could mean definitive abandonment for our protagonist, Campos
decided to head straight to the finish line, accepting the penalties and ending
this first week of the race.
"I had already considered it yesterday. For this special, I had to do about
300 km of dunes per day. Yesterday I managed to do 200 km very tired, with back
pain and pain in my right wrist. Today I started to ride a bit, but of course,
if yesterday I couldn't do the 300 km, today I won't be able to do 400. I
started the race, but now I'm going to the camp to catch the plane that takes us
to Riyadh for the rest day." Campos announced from the desert itself.
Campos continues to keep a cool head and his goal intact. For an amateur rider
making his debut in the toughest motor race in the world, there is no greater
goal than to finish, and we are sure he has made the most accurate decision.
Stage 7. Riyadh - Al Duwadimi. Special: 483 km. Liaison: 390 km.
For the return from the rest day, the organization had not prepared an
adaptation stage, not at all. This is the Dakar. David Castera announced a stage
with "many changes of direction, making it difficult to navigate through
the canyons. And to finish, the long stretches of dunes will help make a
difference."
Upon reaching the finish, Javier Campos shared his impressions: "It was
quite challenging to finish this stage. Very long. Four hundred and eighty-three
kilometers. The first one hundred and fifty with a lot of back pain. It started
to subside, but in the last eighty, the pain came back, as if I had knives in my
back. I could finish, but I spent half an hour riding at night, and now it's
time for the liaison."
Despite the significant accumulation of kilometers in a truly tough first week,
Campos appears very composed, both mentally and physically, and we hope that
with the help of the physiotherapist, he can manage those back pains. After nine
hours and twenty-three minutes of the special, Campos was classified in the
107th position in the General classification.
Stage 8. Al Duwadimi - Hail. Special: 458 km. Liaison: 220 km.
Early in the morning and from the starting line of the special, Campos shared
with his followers the breakdown of kilometers for the day. "Today we had
about one hundred and twenty liaison kilometers to get to the start. We will
have a total of four hundred and sixty special kilometers, with a liaison in the
middle and another one at the end of about ninety, to reach the bivouac."
Javier left the special suffering from severe back pain that rendered him unable
to ride safely. After hundreds of kilometers of suffering, he made the decision
not to tackle the second special of the day, with the intention of resuming the
race in stage 10. This alternative would allow Campos to finish the Dakar in the
Experience category, outside the regular classification.
"My day has been a bit short. I did the liaison and the first timed section
of about three hundred kilometers, and the strong back pain returned, so I had
to stop. In the next liaison, I came back to the camp. Today, I did not finish
either," and resigned by his injury, he continued, "I've had these
pains since the second day of the race, arriving too late because it hurts a
lot, and I can't push. These things are commonplace here in the Dakar. This is
an injury I thought was resolved, but with the toughness of this rally, it seems
it wasn't. I'm taking pills, but it's not getting better. Tomorrow I'll try
another treatment, so I'll rejoin in stage 10 if all goes well."
On January 15, 2024, silence fell over the Dakar camp. Motorcycle rider
Carles Falcón passed away in Spain as a result of his fall in the second stage
of this rally. Messages filled with grief flooded social media, and the
motorcycle community's chats mourned the loss of a great rider and an even
better person. From here, we extend our deepest condolences to the family and
friends. Rest in peace.
Stage 9. Hail - AlUla. Special: 417 km. Liaison: 222 km.
Javier Campos takes this ninth stage as a rest day to try a new treatment and
rejoin the race in tomorrow's tenth stage. The organization allows up to three
opportunities for each rider to rejoin the race, and Campos is using his last
chance. From the second day of the sixth 48-hour stage, our rider became part of
the Dakar Experience when he decided to return to the bivouac suffering from
severe back pain.
For Campos, the classification remains the least of his concerns. He is fighting
to achieve the goal of this adventure that has truly pushed him to the limit,
bringing to the surface an injury he thought was resolved.
Stage 10. AlUla - AlUla. Special: 371 km. Liaison: 241 km.
After a cold liaison at unusual hours, as is customary, Campos was cautious
before starting this tenth stage: "Here we are. I have applied heat patches
and am taking quite a bit of medicine. Let's see if I can endure this stage and
tomorrow's to be able to finish. Let's see what happens."
Five hours and forty-six minutes later, Javier completed a special he will
remember for a lifetime. With pride in having finished despite his intense pain,
he dedicated this stage to all his friends and followers in the WhatsApp group
who have supported him from the beginning. With much emotion and unable to hold
back tears, he said, "Guys, this one's for you! I enjoyed it a lot. My back
hurts a lot, but I finished the stage. This one's for you!" he repeated.
Back at the bivouac, Campos appeared more serene and excited. If he manages to
finish tomorrow's stage, which will be the penultimate of this Dakar, he will
have made it. "Today went very well for me. With less pain, so I could
enjoy it. Now the pain is bearable. The pain from these days was something out
of the ordinary. But today I could ride at my pace and without risking too much.
Tomorrow I will go out with the intention of finishing the stage." And he
continued describing it in detail: "There were tricky rocky sections, fast
tracks, and some quite fast ones. I started recognizing some rocks until I
realized we had already been there, so the terrain was also delicate due to the
number of vehicles that had passed. It was tough, but the body held up, and the
bike too. The last forty kilometers were on well-marked sandy paths, and the
truth is that I went full throttle there. As fast as I could, so I spent... the
last kilometers crying like a lost one, from the pain, from the satisfaction,
and from everything," Javier Campos narrated with the satisfaction of
having surpassed himself, enjoyed, and achieved one more stage in this extremely
tough rally.
Javier even managed to ride in the top 70 during part of the special, ultimately
elevating him to the 86th position in the same stage, achieving his best overall
classification in the 105th.
Stage 11. AlUla - Yanbu. Special: 420 km. Liaison: 107 km.
Today the start of the special was located just six km from the bivouac, so the
riders wouldn't have to endure the usual morning cold. Campos shared a video in
which he gave a brief overview of what the day would be like: "Today we
have four hundred km of special with sand, rocks, fast tracks, quite cut
dunes..." and remained cautious "... let's see how everything
unfolds," knowing that this is one of the stages warned by the organization
for its toughness.
Javier Campos crossed the finish line accompanied by his teammate, mentor, and
friend, Eduardo Iglesias, with whom he had shared the sweat and tears of this
latest challenge.
"Another stage done! I loved it, but it was very complicated. It was a lot
of km. We finished almost at night. There was everything. Rivers of stones and
very difficult passages between mountains. We did enduro, trial, and everything
to get through some places. I ran into Edu, and we went almost the whole way
together. The last 100 km were quite tough, and now at the end, we missed two
waypoints, went back, but we left it. Another stage done, and tomorrow, God
willing, we'll finish."
Javier finished the stage visibly excited and very satisfied. He knows that
tomorrow should be a mere formality, but he is also aware that until the finish
line, nothing is guaranteed.
Stage 12. Yanbu - Yanbu. Special: 175 km. Liaison: 153 km.
The last day from the starting line of the special. Campos, visibly happy, sent
a video to his WhatsApp group in which Benavides Sr. also joined, congratulating
him for making it to the last day of the race. He closed the video with the hope
of someone who has almost accomplished everything: "I hope there are no
problems and I can finish this adventure of sport and suffering, both of the
body and the mind. Despite everything they can tell you about the toughness of
the Dakar..." and he was left speechless to simply say, "it's to be
lived."
Javier Campos reached the finish line in Yanbu, on the shores of the Red Sea, to
receive his recognition as a finisher in the Experience category, which he
savored as if it were a victory.
"Those last km by the sea... and seeing that this was coming to an end,
were very emotional. Finally, I was able to achieve it, and despite those two
days off, for me, this is a triumph. It's so tough. Except for a couple of days,
the rest have been terrible." "I am very happy to have achieved it. I
don't have a medal, but for me, it's as if I had one. Because it has been a
sacrifice and pain on the bike... not just for the back. The arms, legs, hands.
The body hurts every day." And he joked, saying, "This is so tough
that if you catch a cold, you're out," while laughing, and ended by
showcasing his best Galician wit, "Anyone who wants to come, think
twice."
 The
challenge turned into reality.
This race not only tests the mechanics to the limit. Javier Campos experienced
it firsthand. An injury he thought was resolved ended up determining his daily
life, making him suffer to unsuspected limits that prevented him from riding
with a minimum of safety. But what has not failed Campos is his mind. He has
shown an impeccable mental strength and clarity to make the right decisions at
the right moments and achieve the set goal. At 54 years old, Javier Campos Dono
managed to finish the toughest motor race in the world. Congratulations,
Campiños!
In memory of Carles Falcón.
Source: Pablo Pillado, Fernando Campos; photos: Javier Campos, Ingine Creators.
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