Roger Dahl nærmer seg nå sjekkpunkt Levajok, og det knytter seg nå spenning til om han velger å stoppe her for å hvile, eller velger han å kjøre rett igjennom sjekkpunktet.
Skrevet av: Hanne Rosenberg/AM Bjøru (transl.)
Dato: 16.03.2011 15:52
Roger Dahl and Robert Sørlie are now on the river leading up to Levajok. Dahl started at 13:39 and Sørlie started 1 hour and 56 minutes behind. So far in the race Sørlie has rested 1 hour and 59 minutes more than Dahl. Most likely Roger is now standing behind the sled analyzing his dogs and the speed and contemplating whether he should rest at Levajok. Dahl also needs to consider that Sørlie probably is wondering about exactly the same thing. If Roger chooses or has to stop at Levajok this will give Robert the chance to go straight through in order to get the lead. But also he needs to consider whether the team of dogs is strong enough to go on without a rest.
If resting they should give the dogs more than 2 hours. Experience has shown that if the dogs get to rest for only 2 hours they have a hard time racing afterwards. To avoid the problem the dogs should get at least 3 hours rest or more. Looking at the two mushers' rest times at the different check points it shows that they have rested almost 3 hours or more due to this expereience. It will be interesting to see what they choose to do and who will be in the lead after Levajok. Probably Sigrid Ekran and Gorm Engen are also thinking of tactics, so top 4 may look very different in a few hours.
Photo: Geir Stian Altmann Larsen