Carlos Sainz warns him. In the run-up to the Dakar Rally, Nasser Al-Attiyah assured that his battle is not with Carlos but with Loeb and that the Audi will not be easy. Peterhansel, Carlos’ partner at Audi, pointed out that the German company has “the car to win”. Carlos did not want to answer either one or the other, but he indicated that the Frenchman was not on the wrong track: “What Peterhansel says must be respected.” He wants to speak on the track. And he did it right away. His 5th starting position seemed perfect to start the Dakar Rally with a very good result in stage 1. And in front of his son Carlos Sainz jr and his wife Reyes, who were present on the stage to see him go through tracks at full speed. speed He suffered after kilometer 30, but gave a final recital that allowed him to score his first victory and start sending one of the messages of strength he wanted to send.
‘El Matador’ won the stage by 23″ over Loeb. On the other hand, Nasser Al-Attiyah, who started behind Carlos and the Frenchman, started his title defense on the wrong foot by losing 7’09” to stray. in a canyon area, losing more than 4 minutes in the last few kilometers. A year ago, Sainz waved goodbye to any stage 1 fights due to a poorly indicated point in the roadbook. This course begins in the complete opposite way. In a big way, although our feet are on the ground: there are still 13 grueling stages to go and the rally has only just begun.
“The car worked well and Lucas did a great job, we are very happy with the result, but we have to keep a cool head because it has just started, it can change overnight, a rally is we are waiting for a difficult but we hope. to continue like this, without problems and happy”, he commented.
Carlos began to show the speed of his Audi RS Q e-Tron on the terrain that best suited his characteristics, the dunes. In that final stretch of sand, Carlos pushed and made a great comeback. He was making time since halfway through the special, at kilometer 168, he lost by 3’42”. But from then on he began to scratch time from all his rivals without stopping to achieve the victory.
The man from Madrid thus added his third Audi victory (he achieved 2 last year in his first year in this project) and this Sunday is his 42nd Dakar stage victory. He is only 2 of 42 behind Al-Atiyah, the third with the most wins behind Peterhansel (49) and Ari Vatanen (50).
Reversal of Óscar Fuertes
Óscar Fuertes had an accident in several rollovers when he saw a pothole in the road while running at full speed, at kilometer 70. The car was destroyed, and while co-driver Diego Vallejo was uninjured, Óscar had to be transferred in the hospital because of back pain. The driver made it back to the bivouac without it and the team’s intention was to try to fix the car so that Óscar could start the race again.
Laia Sanz was 21st after her first stage with the two-wheel drive team Astara and Isidre Esteve occupied 49th place overall. In the remaining categories, we must highlight the second overall position of Pau Navarro in T4, at the age of 18, 1’31” behind the leader.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
