Dakar | Al-Attiyah, dreams of glory after problems are over

The first week of the 2024 Dakar Rally was the one in which Nasser Al-Attiyah's hopes were dashed, as he lost many hours due to an accident during the famous 48-hour stage in the Empty Quarter. The Prodrive driver had a good chance of winning his third consecutive trophy, the sixth in his cupboard, but will have to be content with supporting Sébastien Loeb for the rest of the race.

When asked by Motorsport.com how the days leading up to the rest day went and how his debut with the car was, the Qatari driver replied: “The first week went very well, no problems, except yesterday where we stopped for about three hours and it was game over for us. Now we will try to recover some positions for the championship.”

Audi has a real chance of winning with Carlos Sainz or Mattias Ekstrom, and could put together a plan together with Stéphane Peterhansel to win, but Nasser Al Attiyah will also team up with brandmate Sebastien Loeb: “I don't know , it's Audi's strategy and I don't care. I will try to help Seb [Loeb] to get on the podium, but I will try to do my job as best as I can.”

“I spoke to Seb and we completely agreed, right from the start. If we had a problem, we would help each other. I don't know, if he has a problem, I will stop to help him and, if I can, I will help him, but otherwise I will move on. We are in two different teams, but it is one brand,” said the Qatari.

Al-Attiyah could still be a surprise in the rest of the competition, but the five-time winner of the Dakar Rally believes he does not have the same feeling as when he started the rally in Saudi Arabia a week ago: “There is no confidence, but we will try to do our best, because that's what we have to do.”

However, he received a visit from an illustrious figure of Spanish sport, the president of the Barcelona football team Joan Laporta, and he recounted his visit: “Joan Laporta came here because there is the Spanish Super Cup [di calcio], for the match between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Saudi Arabia. He came to visit me wearing a Barça shirt [in regalo]so it was very nice, I wish him good luck.”