Sainz: “This is a film to not sleep”

“It’s a movie that won’t sleep”. That’s how he defines it Carlos Sainz what happened in stage 3 where he had a kneecap problem that forced him to lose 33 minutes in repairs that he believed could be done faster and better, and later, another 20 with a double puncture that came from in Another “mistake” , because the hydraulic jack didn’t work and they decided to raise the car by placing the tires on top of a rock, something that caused a second puncture.

“In doing this we punctured another one, and during the repair one of the screws broke, and when we removed the wheel from the second puncture there was a screw that we could not remove. The wrench also broke tire. and we had to wait for Ekstrom to change it”, he pointed out, regretting what happened. In total, he gave up 56 minutes on the stage winner and 35 on Al-Attiyah, where he is now 33 minutes clear overall. Carlos considers that it will be “difficult” to break that time for Nasser and that in the coming sands it will be more difficult to make a change, but he is confident that the Rally will continue in the vein of this start, of daily surprises, crossing our fingers that we have no more setbacks. Sainz now goes on the attack. Nothing to hide. “Now we have to change our strategy and continue to attack, although that’s how you buy tickets for more to happen to you. But we will try and it will not stay for us,” said the ‘Matador’, who remembered in front of the Spanish press with a long rally to go.

FIRST PROBLEM, THERE IS A WHEEL BALL JOINT

“The beginning of the stage was good, because I took Van Loon, he was taking Nasser and he stopped with a puncture and we passed him. He was going really well, with a good rhythm, but suddenly, in a right-hand corner, I noticed. something was wrong with the rear suspension. The ball joint was broken. We were in the car and we stopped to replace it”.

YOU ARE NOT HAPPY WITH YOUR JOB TROUBLESHOOTING

“Neither Lucas nor I were happy with how we did the job, because it could have been done faster. We had a problem that upset us a lot, but it could have taken us less time. But we’re not mechanics and in under stress… something that stops Let’s improve it in the future. It’s also true that it hasn’t broken yet, maybe yesterday’s stones already had a crack because we don’t understand why it broke, they are strong knees, which never caused a problem” .

DOUBLE POCKETS

“I continued, attacking hard, but we punctured a wheel and we had a problem with the jack, also our mistake, the jack did not rise and we have to climb the car on some rocks to change the wheel. In doing so we punctured the one, and while adjusting one of the bolts was back-threaded, and when we removed the wheel from the second hole there was a bolt that we could not remove. The wheel wrench also broke and we had to wait for Ekstrom to replace it . A movie that won’t sleep”.

MECHANICAL TRAINING

“Yes, but in the end we trained them once, maybe a month and a half ago and in the end… it’s not the same, we’re not mechanics and you can’t dedicate that much time either. But today I admit that I am not happy and we should have done the best job”.

KEEP FIGHTING

“We are here, we continue. With a clearer strategy, to go out on the attack and try to recover.”

STAGE 4, THERE ARE DOUBTS IF IT IS LOST

“I have no idea, but I saw some images that made my hair stand up a bit. But here the water comes through fast. There is a lot of sand and it usually flows well, unless there is a flood because it rains a lot. I honestly don’t know what will happen tomorrow”.

THE KEY TO THIS DAKAR IS THE EVENTS

“I think that now we have reached an area that we are going to play less, because the tonic is that of the punctures. I don’t know what is happening, if there have been many BF Goodrich… we don. ‘T understand why we are playing so many all the time world. It’s something to analyze too. There are still many days left, you have to keep pushing and try to cut back if you can”.

Take back THE 33 MINUTES THAT SEPARATE HIM FROM NASSER

“Half time is Dakar because it is a lot, but in the end we see a Dakar where a lot of things happen and if that is the trend, let’s expect it not to happen to us and it will happen to those. leading. But now that we will have You need to change your strategy and continue to attack, you also buy tickets so that more will happen to you. But we will try and it is not for us “.

THE ONES TO COME

“With the dunes at the end I don’t think there will be much difference.”

BETTER TO START PROBLEMS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE RALLY

“Totally. IF you’re going to have a big problem like today, it’s better that it happen to you at the beginning because of course you still have many days to heal.”

POSSIBILITY OF THE ORGANIZATION TO CANCEL SOME OTHER POINTS OF THE STAGE

“They talked about something but I have no confirmation. It will be whatever but I don’t have many illusions.”