Dakar – Sainz: “We started winning from day one”

In the imagination of motorsport, Carlos Sainz never stops embellishing its image. At 57 spring, the Spanish pilot, twice titled in WRC (1990 and 1992 with Toyota) vient d’ajouter une troisième couronne de lauriers du Dakar Rally to his immense track record.

Author of a new performance combining speed, patience and perseverance, “El Matador” was able to resist the attacks of his two main rivals Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) and Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini), taking advantage, among other things, of a Mini JCW buggy the best performer on the track against the Hilux.

“I am delighted for everything, said Sainz at the finish of the final special of the day, shortened to 167 km and won by Nasser Al-Attiyah. There was a lot of work behind it: a lot of testing, training, testing, physical preparation, time with the team.

 You have to work really, really hard. We started winning this Dakar from day one. We know how much the three of us have attacked since day one. It was full throttle from the start. »

Sainz also highlights the quality of the course for this first edition in Saudi Arabia. “We can always improve, but for a first, it’s a great effort from ASO. » The Spaniard, however, indicated that it was too early to think about 2021.

Al-Attiyah handsome player

Winner last year with Toyota, Nasser-Al-Attiyah was not unworthy but lost too much time at the start of the race. The Qatari intends to take his revenge in 2021. “I'm very happy, we did a good job to finish second even though we wanted to win.

We made a couple of mistakes along the way and had a lot of punctures, but I'm pretty happy. I will come back to win next year. I just need a little more luck. »

Discover the full report of the last week of the Dakar 2020, produced by our special correspondent in Saudi Arabia, in AUTO issue 2251hebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version and from next Wednesday on newsstands.