“It would be a dream to win my fourth Dakar, because at a sporting level it is really difficult to win with a car with these characteristics”
MADRID, 30 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish driver Carlos Sainz (Audi) warns that the Dakar Rally is “like a daily marathon”, since it is a race that “puts you to the physical and mental limit for 15 days”, at the same time that he knows that “it would be a dream ” to win his fourth title in the event, because it is “really difficult” to do it with a car with an electric motor.
“There are 15 days in which the race puts you to the limit, that’s why there are people, amateurs, who are only going to finish it. It puts you to the physical and mental limit, and that’s why it also makes it special. Human beings like the special challenges like the Dakar. It’s almost like a daily marathon,” Sainz said in an interview with Europa Press after the presentation of his team, together with Lucas Cruz, for the 2023 Dakar with Audi.
After adding three titles and a final third place, 13 participations and 36 stage victories, the man from Madrid admits that the ‘bug’ continues to bite him when the test approaches. “Maybe the last few days are the worst, because it seems like he’s never going to get there, especially once you’re there, you’re already looking forward to the race after all year preparing for it,” he revealed.
His background in the test gives him “experience”, which “is a grade”, because “it gives you a bit of the feeling that you already know what you are going to face”. “You know what you have to do here to not suffer so much there. I prefer to suffer here in Madrid, that I can stop training because I can’t take it anymore, and I won’t be able to do it there,” said the 60-year-old pilot about his physical preparation for the test, “a beautiful, difficult and attractive challenge”.
“With a brand like Audi, with a car like this, it would be a dream to win my fourth Dakar, because at a sporting level it is really difficult to win with a car with these characteristics. Already putting it at the start… They have had a great imagination and courage, and Audi has had the courage to do it”, he wished, stressing the potential of his car with an electric motor from Audi, the only brand that is committed, as in the previous edition, to sustainability.
Thus, Sainz reported that his Audi RS Q e-tron E2 for the 2023 edition is “continuous, very similar to last year.” “It has the advantages that such a modern car can have. I have to concentrate solely on driving it, it doesn’t have gears, for example. It allows you different set-ups, to play with a series of things that a conventional car doesn’t have, but it’s also It’s a challenge to learn these new technologies even if you’re already a veteran,” explained the two-time world rally champion.
“The ‘motorsport’ goes in this direction, electric motorization already exists, for example in Formula 1. Sustainability today is an absolute priority in mobility, and competition has to follow the development of cities and the human, cannot be left behind and has to continue experimenting with sustainability”, he predicted about the future of competition and caring for the planet.
In any case, the veteran pilot was “calm” because he believes that they have done “their homework well” for this Dakar. “We don’t stop in the middle of the specials, it goes back a bit to the roots of the Dakar. That gives you less information in relation to those who start in front and behind. Before, you could know the times of those who are close to you, now we will only know if you take the car in front that leaves for three minutes or the one that comes behind. Therefore, the information is less”, he explained about the imminent edition.
And to succeed in such a tough race, as in motorsport in general, he pointed out that both talent and work are necessary. “You have to have talent to be it and then work on talent. No matter how much talent you have, if you don’t work it, bad, and if you don’t have it, no matter how much you work, neither,” he argued.
Finally, Sainz valued his son Carlos’ season at Ferrari, “a difficult year for him” because “it was difficult for him to adapt.” “But he has been advancing and improving, it is very typical of him. With this experience, let’s hope that Ferrari will make a good car, and I think that he will start the season in a more comfortable situation for him,” he concluded.