How a driver prepares for the Dakar, the toughest and most demanding rally in the world

Cristina Gutiérrez has participated in the fourth edition of Dacia Talks and has answered several questions, where she tells us everything related to the team, its preparation, its best moments, its objectives, etc…

«The Dakar not only tests the car, but also the driver in every way. This year I have dedicated a lot of time to training my physical endurance and strengthening my ability to concentrate. Physical preparation is very important, above all, you have to be fit to endure rallies of such distance and thus avoid injuries. Furthermore, we have worked a lot both in the tests and in the Morocco Rally and on how to deal with unforeseen situations, which always arise in this type of competition. “I am ready to give my best,” she explains about how she is preparing for the toughest and most demanding rally in the world.

«Working with an official team is very different from what I have experienced before, because you have the support of Dacia, with one of the best technical teams in the history of rallying, such as Prodrive, and you have the best at your disposal. engineers, mechanics, etc…, who help me learn and improve,” he adds. What’s more, “in general, the hardest moments of the Dakar are when there is a stage in which you have problems or have had some mechanical failure and you have to do that mental reset and go out as if nothing had happened the next day, because in the Dakar, every day is an opportunity to achieve new challenges.

But there are also good moments to remember. «Winning the Dakar this year is, to date, the best moment of my career. Also, the first time I got into the Dacia Sandrider and I felt that special union,” he emphasizes. Thus, she faces a new challenge: «After carrying out the tests, seeing times, comparisons with telemetry between the other drivers and me and analyzing the Moroccan rally, which we were fighting among the top ten in all the stages, I see myself as competitive. I’m not going to say that I’m going to fight to win in my first year, but it is true that I am in a very good moment. I have years ahead of me and I want to go from less to more. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, because in the Dakar you never know, but what’s clear to me is that I’m going to go out and win.”

Likewise, «the Dakar is a survival competition. My goal is to maintain consistency in each stage and take the car to the finish line in the best possible conditions. It is a huge challenge, but I have complete confidence in my team and the vehicle we have prepared. We have everything you need to face the dunes, the stones and the long days of navigation. The general classification matters a lot to me. I see it as feasible to achieve a Top5 in my first year as an official Dacia driver,” concludes Gutiérrez.

The work to be prepared for Dakar 2025, which will take place in Saudi Arabia from January 3 to 17 and with a total distance of approximately 8,000 kilometers, has only just begun. A month of intense preparation awaits Cristina Gutiérrez and the rest of the members of The Dacia Sandriders before their departure to the Middle East, where they will face their biggest challenge so far.