Dakar 2020: Alonso climbs on the dune lite: “I feel better in this field”

After Saturday's break, the Spaniard is optimistically facing a second week of rally that favors his Toyota more.

• Dakar
  

  Peterhansel wins the sixth stage, Sainz is more leader and Alonso finishes sixth
  

The arrival on Friday in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, was the first respite for the Dakar caravan. After more than 1,500 timed kilometers, spread over the first six days, it is time for balance sheets and predictions. The hardness of the stony tracks that favored the Carlos Sainz Mini and Stephane Peterhansel give way to the wavy dizziness of the dunes, where the Toyota of Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fernando Alonso feel much more comfortable.

“I don't know why, but I feel better in this field,” the Spaniard revealed as soon as he completed the 477 kilometer special, in which he rolled to the rhythm of the favorites until he reached the finish line in sixth position. I gave up less than five minutes compared to Al-Attiyah, triple champion of the race, and I was faster than Giniel De Villiers and Bernhard Ten Brinke, also partners in Gazoo Racing.

From the sixteenth place in the general, more than three and a half hours from Sainz, the Spaniard contemplates the second half of the Dakar with the precaution of any rookie. “One day you can lose 40 minutes, another break the change … There can be differences in hours,” Alonso revealed, with the relief, at least, of leaving behind so many stones. Those sections that the Wednesday caused him three punctures and left him without spare wheels.

Sainz: “Keep squeezing”

More cautious was Sainz, leader of the general, with almost eight minutes on Al-Attiyah and 16 on Stephane Peterhansel. “They are not going to lift their feet for a second, so we must continue to squeeze,” admitted the double champion, guided with firm pressure by Lucas Cruz, a co-pilot of total guarantee.

So far, the 4×2 traction of your Mini has adapted better to the race than the 4×4 of the Toyota. And their tires, whose pressure they control from the cabin, suffered less on the stones. Now it remains to be seen if they endure Al-Attiyah in the soft sand.

On Friday he was able to hold the attacks of his two great opponents despite opening track and losing less than two minutes when it would have been normal to deliver six. “An remains the most difficult part of dunes,” warned the Madrid. His friend Alonso, who heard so many tips in recent months, sees him on Friday on the first step of the podium in Qiddiyah. “He has everything by hand. If the car respects him, he is on the right track.”