Carlos Sainz warns before the start of the Dakar: “On the first day we can see strange things”

In the bivouac of Bisha, Carlos Sainz attended the media this Thursday morning, a day before the start of the Dakar 2025in this Friday’s contention of the prologue stage, which will serve to establish the starting order for stage 1. The silence with the help of Ford is absolute, a good sign after the ‘shakedown’ carried out yesterday. now, Ford He may go out again to test his Raptor T1+, but as he admits Sainz in World of Sports and Catalunya Ràdio, as well as its engineer, Joan Navarro, all did well in their tests on Wednesday without having to appear again.

Everything is ready for the champion to start defending the crown. For this, Carlos already warned “Tactics in this Dakar will probably be more important than ever”especially because in 5 of the 12 stages the route of the cars and motorcycles will be different, and therefore, on those days, the co-drivers will not be able to follow the tracks of the motorcycles and the opening of the track can mean a big lack of time This will be the case in stage 2, two days, in the 48-hour time trial, which is more than 1,000 kilometers. There is no interest in opening the track that day and that is why it is clear to Carlos that “maybe in stage 1 there will be things that will be seen that are a little different”. There may be a strategy from the beginning of finding a starting position later for day 2. Or maybe someone will risk the opposite.

How do you feel the day before starting the Dakar after a whole year of waiting?

Dakar is just around the corner. Tomorrow we will start the prologue stage. It will be a Dakar that already has many kilometers in the first week, especially the two stages like the 48 Hours (stage 2) and the marathon stage (4 and 5), therefore, that first week we think is going to be quite determinant. And happy to be here in this new project.

How did the car feel in the shakedown?

The shakedown went well. It is always a very, very important day, because you come from spending several months without driving the car, to recover those sensations, to make sure that the car is in order and it is an important day because yesterday everything was good. We’re not going out again today because we did everything yesterday, there’s nothing left to do and today is the day of the checks and as you can see, the car is quite calm, which is always a good sign.

Is it better to go out with peace of mind because of the difficulty of the first week?

No, I think tactics in this Dakar will probably be more important than ever. Last year we showed how the tactics and strategy of not opening the track in the 48 hour stage are very important, and this year there will be 5 stages where there are no motorcycles at the front (motorcycles and cars will have different routes in those stages and no traces of motorcycles), and therefore I think that we will have a fairly tactical Dakar and that on the first day we can see strange things.

Could stage 2 of the 48 hours be one of those stages where a Dakar is not won but where the scepter can be lost?

Sure. In a 48 hour period something will happen, 100%. You have no help, no one with you, that’s why it’s so important to go through the kilometers without problems, and above all to reach the first part and the end of the stage without problems, because you know you’re not going to. to have the mechanics, that you are alone and it is important to pass it. It’s also very early in the career and when you have a new project like ours, you’re probably going out with a little bit of anxiety.

In 48 Hours there will be only one help point at the beginning. Because?

Apparently, after the first 150 km they left a service point because it was a part with a lot of stones, a part that was very possible to puncture and the organization did not want us to puncture two tires and have to go to the rest of the that day and the following day (to complete a total of 1,000 km) without replacement tires. The truth seems to be quite complicated.

When signing with Ford, did you think that in the first year they would have a car as competitive as what it seems now for this Dakar 2025?

Well, we’ll have to wait and see how we go in this race. The debut in Morocco was really positive but we have to wait a bit. Obviously, when you sign someone you always have enthusiasm and desire and Malcolm Wilson already knows him and it’s a bit like coming home and in that sense there are no surprises. I think we have worked well all year and we will have to wait and see what the start of the race has in store for us.