Sainz: “This is a very stressful stage and we must not let our guard down”

Carlos Sainz (Audi), leader of the Dakar 2024, was satisfied with overcoming a “very stressful” stage like this Tuesday, where he lost only a four-minute difference to the Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive) despite of opening the track in a good stretch of a stage where they had no “problems”.

“The strategy will not change, because Seb -Loeb- is pushing hard, he is all out and so are we, logically, because if he does not agree with us. But there are three stages left where we must not let our vigilance, we must continue,” Sainz commented in remarks to Spanish journalists traveling to Dakar.

Saínz, leader of the general classification with 20 minutes and 33 seconds on the Frenchman, who won a stage on Tuesday where the Madrid native was second, that there are “big rocks” on the route, “many testing places where the path lost and then you have to land in the right place”, but he highlighted that his co-pilot Lucas Cruz did a “great job”.

“We went well and we lost four minutes, but to open the second half we are quite happy and satisfied to be here another day without problems,” said the Spaniard.

Asked about the next day, the penultimate of the Dakar 2024, he stressed that they will start second and try to go as fast as possible: “Tomorrow night we will think about the next day,” explained Sainz, asked if the hardness of this Thursday’s stage, with many rocks and possible problems due to holes, may affect the result of this Wednesday.

Thus, Sainz emphasized that his two teammates, the Swede Mattias Ekström (Audi) and the Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel (Audi), “have a long way to go but tomorrow should not be a stage of big holes.”

“It is clear that we have to overcome tomorrow and we will think about the past. That stage decided the Dakar last year and this year will be tough, because the holes remain the same and do not rely in any way on the tire ,” concluded by Sainz.