The psychological battle between Al-Attiyah and Sainz began

The Dakar begins this Saturday with a prologue stage of 12.5 km (at 6:00 am the first motorcycle starts and at 8:40 am the cars) on a flat area, a closed route of hard, machine-compressed sand, which will serve to determine the departure order of stage 1 on Sunday. The 10 fastest cars and the 15 fastest motorcycles get to choose a strategic starting position. However, the Dakar, somehow, began to be played a few hours before, at the beginning of the psychological battle between two of the great aspirants: the current champion, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) and three-time Dakar champion Carlos Sainz (Audi).

Nasser came out on a bicycle near the press room. “Are you expecting to go head-to-head with Sainz in this Dakar 2023?” MD asked him then. “I think the big battle will be between me and Sébastien Loeb”, taught He begins to play his cards, perhaps trying to unnerve his rival. But until now, he hasn’t. After the official press conference held in the middle of the central square of the bivouac, where the sunset as a great spectator on the banks of red seaone of Carlos Sainz’s teammates at Audi, Stephane Peterhansel, was in charge of clarifying that “Audi has the car to win” and that he and the members of the German team aim for nothing but victory. At that time, Carlos, far from worrying about the words of his great rival, was quietly eating dinner under the Audi tent. And although it was not planned, he wanted to attend the Spanish press, along with MD. His answer when asked the Qatari words says it all. He smiled knowing this was not the time to speak. “Well, very good”, he answered, with a smile, like someone who doesn’t want to reveal his cards knowing that whoever laughs last, is the best. Carlos prefers to answer on the track.

Immediately afterwards, he was asked about another completely opposite opinion, that of Peterhansel, sure that Audi can conquer the Dakar 2023. “I will not say one thing or the other. I will not answer Al-Attiyah. .. If Peterhansel said, I think he is someone who I think is prudent and what he says in Dakar should be respected. If he said it, I’m glad he said it. I have nothing to say. I want to wait and we’ll see”, he pointed to this newspaper’s question.

“I am not going to pronounce myself because I honestly don’t know where we are going and it is a long rally and anything can happen. But I prefer to think about Stéphane (Peterhansel), that we will fight to win. But from fighting to win to winning, there is still a long way to go”, recalled ‘El Matador’.

“I’m so calm”

“I am very calm, happy and looking forward to the time that it starts to have fun and try to have fun, which is what I came for, to try to have fun, and to win, of course, but also to have a good Dakar, without so much suffering, a Dakar that we can be present in making a clean day. Last year it was a pitcher of cold water. Working all year to say goodbye to the Dakar on the first day is a brave drink”, added man from Madrid, who remembered the wrong point in the roadbook that caused him to lose his chances of winning on day 1. In this sense, his first goal is to win the prologue this Saturday morning to choose a good starting position. The ideal for him would be to start stage 1 on Sunday behind his great rivals, Nasser and Loeb, as well as his teammate Peterhansel. P In order to do this, he must first respond to Al-Attiyah from now on in the short and quick prologue stage.