Ickx: “Very good memories”

Ambassador of the Volkswagen brand, which is currently crushing the competition on the Dakar in the car category, Jacky Ickx visited the set of the legendary rally-raid. Winner of the event in 1983 with Claude Brasseur, the former Belgian driver expressed his joy at returning to the Dakar bivouac. “ I always come back to the Dakar with a lot of enthusiasm and it’s full of very good memories. », comments Ickx.

If Jacky Ickx won the Dakar in 1983, on African soil, the six-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans appreciates the new geographical location of the rally-raid. “ In 1984, Thierry Sabine had already thought about organizing a Dakar in South America, he says. Few people remember it but the idea was already there. This edition is faithful to tradition and consistent with the history of the Dakar. »

Although he is present in South America as an ambassador for Volkswagen, the former driver says he feels good in his role as an observer of the car race. “ You have to keep your feet on the ground, you can't imagine at 65 being competitive on the Dakar. I did it 15 times, I had all the luck in the world. The future belongs to young people who have lots of dreams and who want to follow through. »

Commenting on the race for the Volkswagen drivers, who occupy the first three places in the general classification, Jacky Ickx recognizes the difficulty of the situation for VW team manager Kris Nissen. “ How can we protect the interests of a brand and manage those of drivers who are all individualists, who all want to win? » However, this is the equation that Volkswagen will have to respond to in order to continue the rally-raid in the best possible position.