Carlos Sainz, one step away from becoming the Dakar champion and making history after the Loeb disaster

It seems impossible. But he will do it again. Unbelievable. Give it whatever qualifier you want. But Carlos Sainz is about to make history again. The Spaniard has everything in his sights to become the Dakar champion for the fourth time this Friday. Carlos (April 12, 1962, Madrid) will go to the final stage of Dakar to travel the last 175 timed kilometers in search of an unforgettable goal.

After more than three intense years leading a project that he himself admitted he thought was “science fiction” when it was presented to him, after several failures and sufferings, such as a cause of the accident in Dakar 2023 one year just past, the reward is yet to come. Carlos Sainz just needs to make sure he reaches the final finish line of tomorrow’s special without suffering any setbacks to win his fourth Dakar. After the troubles his only rival for the crown suffered before Thursday’s episode, a Sébastien Loeb who once again found himself face to face with the brutality of the toughest race in the world.

The Spaniard finished stage 11, 5’35” behind today’s winner, Chicherit, in third position, but most importantly, he leads the general classification with almost an hour and a half margin over De Mevius and 1 hour and 35 minutes to Loeb, including Moraes and the Catalan Monleón who were away from the podium due to a problem before the final control.

It may be historical.

Carlos Sainz can make history three times. Can ‘El Matador’ add to his own absolute record as the oldest Dakar champion by winning at the age of 61. He beat it in 2020 as the winner of his third Dakar at 57 years old.

But that’s not all. He may also be the first driver to win the Dakar with four different brands. He did it with Volkswagen in 2010, with Peugeot in 2018, with the Mini X-Raid in 2020 and now he can curl the curl with something really unique. and pioneer: won the Audi, with electric vehicles. The first in history. Carlos Sainz is once again setting the course. He was a pioneer in the World Rally Championship by creating the concept of a professional driver., with detailed preparation in every sense, and the first total pilot, capable of winning in all areas, leaving the specialists at the time. At the age of 61, he can continue to be a reference for the future.

Loeb, KO and Sainz, champion style

“The Dakar, you hate it or you love it, there is no middle ground,” said Carlos Sainz last year in an interview with this newspaper in bivouac. He hated it again with all his might. Loeb this Thursday when he was stopped due to a mechanical problem due to a hard landing at kilometer 132 of the total of 420 on stage 11. The Frenchman broke the suspension on a hard landing and initially had to wait for the arrival of the help truck, which at that time had not yet started. Finally, he was helped by another Hunters in the race, the Chinese team YunXiang, driven by Zi Yungang, and ‘Seb’ was able to resume the march with one hour and 16 minutes lost.

It was an absolute disaster for ‘Le Patron’ at the same venue where he bid farewell to his victory in 2023 on the second day because of three holes in some big rocks. ANDl particularly the Bermuda Triangle for a Loeb that adds 8 attempts at the Dakar without being able to win. Sainz achieved the first of his 4th after several upsets. Loeb continues his curse on the world’s hardest date.

Carlos arrived at that point. Harder than a rock, fighting everything and everyone as all his rivals were eliminated throughout this race, the man from Madrid passed in front of Sebastien Loeb and that image certainly gave him more confidence. Seeing it with his own eyes should help him make that clear Loeb is no longer a rival and that, knowing his advantage to Moraes generally it’s more than an hour, he can loosen and belay. The only goal from that moment on should be to reach the finish line without problems. But if one thing is difficult for a champion like Carlos, it is lifting his foot. He is used to always full throttle. That’s your comfort zone. And even though he could control the risks to be taken, he continued to rule the stage without opposition.

I want to win big. However, in the last kilometers he seemed to slow down to avoid problems. He was third in the special, bordering on glory.

Sainz, is about to achieve one of the challenges of his life

In 2020, when he wins his last Dakar at the age of 57, the big question is whether the legendary driver will decide to say goodbye to his career and devote himself to watching the bulls from the barriers. But he decided to continue, then embarked on a more difficult path. I have nothing to prove to anyone. There is no economic, physical or sporting need to enroll in such a complex project as proposed by Audi., the effort to win the Dakar with a maximum margin of 3 years with a car of the future, an electrified vehicle with an insane system: with two electric motors, a large battery kept charged thanks to a combustion engine that works in low regime, and in turn, with a virtual differential. It was very dangerous, but Sainz accepted the challenge.

Sainz’s mind must have exploded when they told him. But he accepted to reinvent himself and lead the development of a car that he himself called “science fiction.” But he made that dream come true.

“There is no doubt that this is the most difficult and ambitious project of my career. It is also true that at this point in my sports career, having a motivation as strong as this project of trying to win the Dakar with an electric powered, hybrid vehicle. , like Audi for the first time in Dakar, it is very good,” he told MD before his first Dakar in Audi, ahead of Dakar 2021.

“I didn’t hesitate to accept it and it was definitely more complicated than I thought,” he assured, highlighting how important it is for him to keep learning new things at this point in his life.

But things get more complicated. First, because of the weight of the vehicle. Also due to doubts about its reliability. Because they appeared in their first Dakar without having competed before. Because they have Al-Attiyah in front of them who seems invincible in his Toyota. But he continued to believe that he would achieve it: “dreaming is free. You have to dream,” he noted. The car has improved, lost weight but still weighs more than others and the FIA ​​has limited its power for Dakar 2023. This forced him to take more risks on the track and it ended up in an accident and injury. No one could be sure then that in Audi’s last Dakar, in its last option with the signature four rings, it could win. With more power allowed, Carlos has bigger weapons, but it still seems very complicated. But Carlos will achieve it this Friday after a tremendous show of strength with his co-pilot Lucas Cruz, who was essential to his victory.

Carlos has everything in mind to make history again. Even? As long as he wants. That’s the answer. He got it. Because even if it seems impossible, Carlos is still the king at the age of 61, with a body that doesn’t seem to pass the years. A legend. Unique and incomparable. never again Simple, Carlos Sainz.

Laia Sanz arrived on three wheels and two podiums within reach of the Challenger

In cars, Laia Sanz wants to continue expanding her legend with her 14th Dakar finish out of 14 possible today. This Thursday, he dropped to 17th place in the overall scratch ranking, 9 minutes behind the top-15, reaching the end with difficulty, traveling the last 8 kilometers on three wheels. Fighter as always, he was able to reach the goal when things became most complicated for him. “Pull with three wheels, we’re coming,” his co-pilot Maurizio Gerini told him. And they did it.

In the category Challenger Two more podiums could come in the interest of the Spanish drivers. Cristina Gutiérrez was 2nd, 25 minutes behind the leader. Third was Baciuska with his Catalan ‘copy’ Oriol Vidal after a big comeback.