Quintero becomes youngest stage winner on the Dakar

The cliché making rally-raid, one of the categories reserved for experienced pilots, so as not to write “elderly”, was defeated by Seth Quintero this Friday, January 8. The American driver became the youngest stage winner in all categories on the Dakar at the end of the sixth stage between Al Qaisumah and Ha'il.

At 18 years, 3 months and 23 days, the Californian indeed won the SSV class aboard the team's Overdrive OT3 Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team with navigator Dennis Zenz “It’s truly a blessing, he declared once he arrived at the bivouac. I find it hard to believe, for my first participation in the Dakar, the most important rally raid in the world! »

Piloting is a family affair for the Quinteros. This year Seth is discovering the Dakar with carefree driving of a light Red Bull vehicle # Dakar2021

Follow the broadcast live: https://t.co/SuRqx4xSBK pic.twitter.com/ZjbUCQosGs

- France tv sport (@francetvsport) January 7, 2021

In 2020, Seth Quintero accompanied his colleagues from the Junior Team to Saudi Arabia but was banned from driving; he was still a minor!

“It was a good day. We started strong and caught up with the leaders before the refueling. But then we experienced a small leak that had to be fixed. We started again hard and at the end we took the advantage over Khalifa Al-Attiyah (Nasser’s little brother. Editor’s note)…

The Red Bull Junior Team did a remarkable job helping me progress towards this first participation, He continues. Everything went perfectly today and I hope to continue my momentum from the marathon stage. »

Seth Quintero is more than ever in the running for overall victory in the Light Prototype class (ex-SSV T3). He is third and is only 8'26'' behind leaders Aron Domzala and Maciej Marton (Can-Am) at the halfway mark and is the best young driver supported by the Austrian brand.