Nasser Al-Attiyah, or how to use the ‘catenaccio’ in the desert

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The Qatari has won his fifth Dakar, possibly one of the easiest he’s had, thanks to not having had to attack in the slightest since week one.

It cannot be said that Nasser Al-Attiyah is a big surprise as the winner of the 2023 Dakar. The Qatari arrived as the current defending champion, but unlike in 2022, he hardly had a rival other than himself.

Eliminating Loeb, Peterhansel and Sainz in this order only made it clear that you can’t fail against Al-Attiyah. He only had to attack once or twice in each edition of the raid he won and bet on the defensive stance from then on. Since the rest day, even a little earlier, the Qatari prince hardly had to sweat. Loeb was the only one who made it difficult for him, but very far away. Hunter’s problems in the early days were too much of a burden to believe a comeback was possible. And there’s no denying that he didn’t try, until the last few miles of this raid. The non-temporary world champion concludes his participation by confirming that the BRX is not a guest in the (increasingly) toughest raid in the world to give it color and that sooner or later it will conquer the desert.

With several goals in their favor on the scoreboard, Al-Attiyah had only to bet on defense. He hasn’t taken a half risk in a second week that has seen the organization of the Dakar as they haven’t shown a favorable route to seeing major changes either. The world’s largest sand desert, the dreaded but disappointing “empty room” was not the breaking point they had hoped for. There is a lack of courage in the ASO and in the FIA, which does not want its brand new cross-country world championship to be marred by the danger that always accompanied this event at the start of the year.

Al-Attiyah moves like a charm in this calm sea. He has always shown that he can be terrifying without baring his teeth, and has many kneeling behind him. Carlos Sainz positioned him as the rival to beat, despite sharing a team with one Stéphane Peterhansel who views the five ‘Touareg’ trophies that already shine in the Qatari’s palmares with some suspicion.

His sports career has always been like this. Knowing how to be at the right time, waiting for others to fail is not easy. And less so when there are sharks like the ones mentioned above that are willing to wait for the mistake to be made by someone who almost never does.

You cannot understand this new success of Al-Attiyah without understanding the structure behind it. Toyota was able to resist for another year as a reference team, while Audi was deflated due to serious suspension problems that eventually put a permanent strain on the strongmen. The introduction of the ‘balance of benefits’, a kind of mandatory equalization of performance to avoid big differences between the cars, would help those with the four rings to compete with Al-Attiyah, but the mechanics gave no time for the Qatar will deploy its political weapons, as relevant or more relevant than those of piloting.

The big question is how far it can go. Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel, his many-carat co-pilot, form a deadly duo. Few doubt that he will be the firm favorite to re-issue the World Rallycross Champion title, despite the presence in the championship of a Loeb who is about to leave this Dakar with the bitter taste of one swimming to die on the shore.

The summary of how this Dakar has been for Al-Attiyah has been done very explicitly, and with its usual ‘donkey’. While it’s clear he hasn’t had to suffer in this edition as he has in others, he assures it’s been one of the most complex he’s had to deal with. A victory without suffering is worth as much as a victory at the last minute, as happened in the motorcycle category, but the story is much worse.

“It’s been a tough Dakar for everyone and it’s crazy to have been able to defend the title. I am happy to have won for the fifth time, the fourth for Mathieu. I respect Ari the most (Vatanen, who he surpasses), he has always been my idol. I always want to win more, now I have to defend the title of world champion. We didn’t have to attack like crazy. We managed to finish the second week and we won the Dakar in the end, and that’s the most important thing,” he affirmed, elated and waving the flag of Qatar, again at the top.

Source: La Verdad

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