One last round of the carousel. Or maybe a waltz, it depends on the moment, it doesn't matter if you look closely. The question remains very simple: in its last year, Audi has the chance to hit the big mark. That Tuareg trophy that he missed on the last two occasions. It's a gigantic Goliath revealed by Ingolstadt. You notice it right away. First because in the Al Ula bivouac they are at the back, far from everything and everyone. They have Formula 1 hospitality – as it happens – they are full of engineers and they work with consciously coordinated synchrony. Robotic one might say, except that in the Dakar you can set and pre-set whatever you want, but the desert is in charge. And you can see it from those serious, serious faces, with so much pressure on them.
David versus Goliath?
Sainz certainly has the great opportunity, one last effort is missing. And basically the rival plays alone. Yes, because Sainz has Peterhansel and Ekstroem on his side who play as a team, while Loeb is left alone. Dumped by Al-Attyah just like that.
And if Audi is a Goliath, BRX, mind you, is a David. In the darkness of the Bivouac, with just one tent, the Hunter dismantled after a difficult day, has the romantic flavor of the challenge. A radio plays – poor – French music. We drink a Coke, and do a check-up of the car, the latest example. Yes, because not far away is the Al-Attiyah model, reassembled certainly, but sadly at a standstill.
Technical issues
Of course, the BRX has charm for that elegant but massive style, but when disassembled you understand that the project is a few years old. For example, you notice it from the shock absorbers. On Audis and Toyotas they are single element, and rest on the upper tie rod. So in case of a major blow, you can save yourself. Well, tell that to Loeb, who is also fighting against the jack of a hydraulic system that won't go up and forces him to look for a rock where he can lift the wheel to change a puncture. Lost time? Too many minutes.
But actually, it also went well for him. Because in the transfer of the tenth stage, just before starting, he was there, stopped on state road 70 trying to solve who knows what problem, only to then reach the start a few minutes before the start, literally making his way through the crowd, having time to carry out just an emergency “pit stop” near a truck. In short, he doesn't do a thing well.
But then again, this is the Dakar. You must have all the ingredients: experience, speed, courage, intelligence, technique, investments, team of course. But even fate must not go against you. This is why in BRX, despite everything, they stowed the Hunter relaxed at the Bivouac. This is why at Audi, the professionalism of the engineers hid tense faces in the dark.
Seen up close
Then again, it's easy to tell the Dakar from a television image or from a helicopter, or from a stopwatch (which is always the one that holds sway). No, to understand the Dakar you have to experience it from a few meters away. Passing over sharp rocks, among compact sand, yes, but also soft, which makes you understand how insidious, complicated, tormented this world is. Standing at who knows what kilometer of the tenth special, you see protagonists passing by on two or four wheels, and you see them flying, floating, floating in constant competition with themselves, the sun, fatigue, problems, adventure and speed. And, as mentioned, fate. Who turns his back on you in a few moments.
Loeb passes first on a flat stretch where you go full throttle, only to then let go, give up, brake a little and slip into an area of dunettes. You see it so quickly and you're like, “It's his day.” It's 12pm in the middle of the Madinah desert – I'm not sure where I am, but it's hot – and you use an old method that a veteran journalist rightly taught you. You know the distance with which they started, you saw Loeb pass: now count the minutes. Five, six, ten. Then comes Sainz. With that combustion engine that continues to pump at high rpm despite the Spaniard having released, crossed and slipped his prototype between the dunes. He is giving everything, even though he thinks the rankings are now overturned. But no.
This is the Dakar, which certainly creates challenges right down to the end, but also stories like that of Seth Quintero who, after an arduous passage that cost him a puncture, stops. He runs on foot, under the scorching sun, and prevents Eugenio Amos by waving his arms, in a private Hilux, from falling into the same trap. Amos who then finishes the stage in fourth place. This is the spirit of the Dakar. It is rivalry, even bitter, but even brotherhood.
Toyota looks to the future
At the bivouac in Toyota everyone is quite calm. They know that the final victory is practically gone, but they also know that they have laid the foundations with Quintero and even more Morales, for a not bad future. Young people, new generation that bonds with veterans. Ages that mix, in a bivouac where the night now reigns supreme, broken by the lights of the tents where we work incessantly. There are those who clean, those who check suspensions, those who even do some welding. And in the meantime, the coming and going of cars is inexorable, so much so that it continually raises dust. Some try something, others walk around the paddock to ease the tension.
It's a world that brings together ancient and modern: you find some ambassadors who remind you of Meoni's swear words and the imprecations against GPS, and the prototypes that seem to come from the future on the other hand, Jacky Ickx's G-Class, and even electric motorbikes who are in charge. Some of course, because the clean and shiny ones from the HRC team are on display while they are topping up. Then there are also the communication setups of course, because after all, the bivouac is a paddock, yes, but a nomadic one.
And very dusty. In short, everything is consistent with the world of motorsport, but in its own shell, its own form, shaped by the charm of the desert. And therefore, yes of course, also the inevitable tents of those looking to rest. Because tomorrow doesn't wait, on the contrary. There's one last ride to go. Few stages, treacherous and to be completed with cunning and intelligence. Sainz against Loeb, Audi against BRX. With Toyota ready to tip the scales.
#Dakar #scenes #SainzLoeb #fight
