Shaken by the news of 45 Emirati soldiers martyred in Yemen, Mohammed Balooshi put in a determined effort on some of the world’s toughest toughest terrain in the Atacama Desert in Chile to finish the fourth leg of the competition in 11th, but managed to retain his overall position of eighth going into the final day.

After finishing the gruelling stage, he said: “Today was a very special and sad day for all the Emirati people and I went out the same as every day to do my absolute very best on the bike. I lost a very close friend on the previous incidents two weeks ago and this only made the pain deeper.”

The fourth day of competition, which constitutes round five of the FIM Cross Country Rallies World Championship, had a mixture of sandy and rocky terrain together with difficult navigation passages and several very fast speed areas.

Balooshi experienced once again different mechanical difficulties including a leaking fork (front suspension) and transmission problems that forced him to stop and replace the chain twice.

He added: “Today was another nice stage and in one of the higher parts I had the fright of the week when my bike’s chain came out while riding at full speed.

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“Even though I didn’t fall, I ended up at the very edge of a steep and endless downhill, no more than 15cm away from the edge.

“I had to take a deep breath and then start thinking how to pick up the bike without both of us rolling down the hill.”

The leg covered 273km with some sandy passages and areas with harsh terrains and loose rocks but the stage’s signature was its fast pace, which is where the super powerful and much faster Official Factory bikes have an advantage over the rest of the competitors.

Stage Five, the last day of the race, will take place today between Huasco and La Serena/Coquimbo with a total of 249 km out of which 103 will be timed and will define the winners of the Atacama Rally 2015.