The 500 miles from Indianpolis be the great goal of Fernando Alonso for this year 2020, in which to seek to participate for the third time in the mythical American oval to be the second driver in history to win the triple crown of motoring.
After finishing seventh in the fifth stage of Dakar rally, Alonso, may you “hopefully something can be closed soon“to run again in Indianpolis. Thus, he implied that at the moment no commitment for that race is signed for 2020.
“The adventure of the Dakar is a professional challenge to feel competitive and learn from the best in a specialty that I did not know, but the objective as far as Competitiveness and trying to win something important are the 500 Miles of Indianpolis, “Alonso said.” For that, try to be in the best possible team and in the best possible conditions. Hopefully something can be closed soon, “he added.
His best stage in the Dakar
On his fifth day of competition in the Dakar, Alonso said it was his best stage in regards to the pace, because on Tuesday he stood out with a fifth place, but the two and a half hours lost due to the breakage of a wheel in the second stage They have ballasted at the eighteenth place in the General.
The Spaniard considered that his Toyota Hilux could have made even the fourth best time of the day, but they happened “two really unfortunate pricks“just after having made two overtaking.
However, I recognized that the seventh position is good for stage 6, where for the first time the ground will be completely sandy, and it will be easier for you to drive, because you will have the tracks of those who passed before. That will facilitate navigation.
The sand is your thing
Alonso He also explained that this stage 5 served to confirm that he feels much better riding on sand and dunes than on the hard surface like stone paths.
The final part of this Thursday's stage, which had a timed stretch of 353 kilometers between Al Ula and Hail (Saudi Arabia), was of dunes with vegetation, where Alonso rolled to the rhythm of the head riders and recovered part of the time lost in the segments that were of rock and stone canyons.
“When there is a lot of stone I am very careful not to prick. With these cars, unlike the buggies, you have to go with very straight wheels because only the lateral supports are cut. In the end, I'm uncomfortable driving with so much stone, “said the F1 champion in 2005 and 2006.
“In the dunes you go a little jumping with the car, you move it side by side, Marc (Coma) has an experience in the dunes superior to the rest of those who run here, and we both take a different rhythm when it reaches the sand, “he added.
Expect to improve in the dunes
The ovetense believes that the first four stages of this Dakar that is played entirely in Saudi Arabia have been “very buggy”, especially for those of Mini who pilot the Spanish Carlos Sainz and the French Stphane Peterhansel. “The Mini have had a stratosfrican advantage in these stages, because with those road wheels all those stones pass without problems,” Alonso said.
Also, remember that these vehicles have the ability to automatically inflate and deflate their tires from inside the cabin, so “when there is a little sand they deflate them, when there is a little stone they swell.”
Alonso acknowledged that his pace in this Dakar has depended on the day, but “the important thing is to be in the top seven, to the rhythm of Yazeed or Giniel.”
Feel competitive
“For me that is already a great joy because I do not come from this specialty. It is one of the challenges I had when facing this raid rally adventure: feeling competitive against the specialists of the discipline,” apostill.
In that sense, Alonso admitted that his improvement at the wheel of the Toyota Hilux has been “spectacular” since at the end of March he first climbed to that 4×4.
“Obviously the improvement has been spectacular in confidence and sand. The help of Nasser (Al Attiyah), Giniel (De Villiers) and especially Marc, who has millions of kilometers in the dunes and in this specialty, have made it possible to compress in seven months of preparation what would have taken me 15 to 20 years, “he concluded.
According to the criteria of
Know more