I was unable to sleep so I woke up early, 5am to be precise, because I was having butterflies in my stomach. And for a good reason too.

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The last time I did a cross country was a year ago, so the opening day of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge was already giving me some anxious moments, even before the first bike had taken off. But I was nevertheless happy that the Challenge was finally going to kick-off in a few hours’ time.

Yesterday’s opening stage went really well; it was a very good day and a right step forward. I may be 14 minutes off the leader but I am also just 11 seconds off my sixth placed rival. Hence there is the possibility I can always improve my position.

My rhythm has been good and I have been hitting everything well; negotiating the dunes and camel grass as they should be. Being in seventh at the end of day one is not a bad position to be in. This is a long rally and there are still four more days to go. So it is important that I keep a positive frame of mind irrespective of the position I am in.

Having said that, I’m going to take it one day at a time and at the end of each stage my team and I will analyse what went right and what went wrong, if at all.

I am already looking to the second stage (on Monday) because there will be no start order, it will be a mass start where all bikers will take off at the same time. I love this start because it means I’ll have company for a while until everyone breaks away. With interval starts, you are all by yourself in the vast desert; and loneliness at times can be very depressing.

I have a fantastic team and, to be honest, there is no pressure whatsoever to win. In fact, my team has emphasised time and again that I should pay attention to navigation, the route and get the way points right.

More importantly, it has been stressed that I must strive to get as much seat time as is possible; meaning make sure I bring the bike home safe and sound – riding and not pushing!

The point is to do the basics right and the rest will automatically take care of itself. But when I say there is no pressure to win, it does not mean I will not aim for victory. Of course I will! It is important to push, but it is foolhardy to put pedal to metal at the expense of ignoring the basis.

I want to make it clear that yesterday I gave it my 100 per cent and will continue to do so for the remaining four days. Great if I get a good result, if not there is always another day