N° 027 - TEAM TEAM TOP RALLY PANAM
 - STREET
- Jonah
- USA
- 07/03/1972
|
Jonah Street: "The Dakar isn’t won on pure speed"
He remains one of the good surprises of the 2006 Dakar. Jonah Street had crossed the finish line in 17th position after having managed to ease in the top 5 of three stages. All that for his first appearance.
But last year, the American wasn’t quite as impressive. After only four days of racing, his engine broke and all his hopes of victory went off in smoke. "I quickly understood that the 2007 Dakar would stop there. With Australian Mark Eland who was in the same situation than me, we started a fire to spend the night".
The setback hasn’t changed the ambitions of Jonah: "I want to do my best and avoid mechanical problems. My goal is still to win even though on a Dakar everything can happen". The American trains a lot with a special focus on navigation his biggest asset during the rally. "During my first Dakar, I was very careful. At the end I knew how to navigate correctly and ride fast. The rally isn’t won on pure speed but thanks to race intelligence. Navigation is the key to success". The 2008 Dakar and its long distances to be covered could play in his favour.
Jonah likes the excess of Africa. He also brings his support to a humanitarian cause "Wheels 2 Africa" that sends bikes to Africa to help people deal with their problems to have access to health care. So that the size of the continent no longer becomes an obstacle to public health.