Dakar | Al-Attiyah: “Audi? I'll give them three days and they'll go home!”

The Dakar caravan arrived at the first of the bivouacs for the 2024 edition, and there was a very confident Nasser Al-Attiyah, ready to defend the title he won twelve months ago. The Qatari has changed colors to sign for Prodrive and is preparing to move to Dacia next year, but he is aiming to repeat his victory and win a third consecutive Touareg trophy.

The five-time winner of the toughest race in the world expects something “totally different”, even if his confidence never wavers: “The new 2024 Dakar is totally different, we are in Al-Ula. The first stages will always be more difficult, with hundreds of kilometers that won't be easy, but I'm happy to come here with the new machine, the Prodrive Hunter.”

“I hope to defend the Dakar title and win three in a row,” explained Nasser Al Attiyah, who was also asked by Motorsport.com if Audi's power change was the biggest rival, given that the Germans will have 15 more kW (about 21 HP for a total of 389 HP in their RS Q e-tron).

The Qatari surprised the media by replying: “Audi? I'll give them just three days and they'll go home, you saw it in Morocco and in Aragon after a hundred kilometres”.

Speaking about the German manufacturer, he had no doubts that they will be fast at the start of the race, and accepted the international federation's decision to leave more power to their rivals: “It's not my decision, we have to accept it because the FIA ​​has a 'another vision. We don't know, we'll see in the first three days that Audi will be fast.”

Returning to his move from a brand he knew well like Toyota to Prodrive, the five-time Dakar winner and reigning World Rally-Raid Championship champion explained the reasons for his departure: “I changed, and the reason why I changed is that I have a contract with Dacia for next year. It will be for three seasons with the team, so at least we have feedback and I know the people, that's why I changed.”

When the question of reliability was raised, one of the biggest problems of the Saudi event, and perhaps the one for which the British company was most accused, he defended himself by extolling its driving skills: “If you look at Toyota's track record, every car had a problem, except mine, because the Dakar has its tricks, and all cars are the same.”

“Today, if you go to the limit every day, you will have a problem, but you have to think about everything that goes to the limit. It's not about the reliability of the Toyota or the Hunter, no,” he said. “If you look at the history of Toyota, we have had more than fifteen cars at each edition and all of them have had problems, except mine. This is my secret, I can't reveal it, I have to keep it because it is very important to take care of the car, to have a good position and speed, otherwise it breaks.”