Dakar | Peterhansel: “I escorted Sainz. It's not easy for him”

Although it looked like a close race at first, the battle for the 2024 Dakar gradually faded, until only two drivers remained, Carlos Sainz and Sébastien Loeb. The gap between the two is only twenty minutes and, with three days to go until the end of the event in Saudi Arabia, nothing has been decided, but someone outside the battle could be the protagonist.

Stéphane Peterhansel, who after losing a lot of time in the first week and giving up any chance of winning another Touareg trophy, will try to help his Audi teammate beat his compatriot. At the start of the ninth stage, consisting of 417 timed kilometers, from Ha'il to Al-Ula, the German cars lined up in formation to escort their main sword.

“This morning we were first, second and fourth, with Chicherit in the middle, who we overtook,” explained 'Monsieur Dakar'. “I waited for Carlos [Sainz] for six minutes at the start to escort him throughout the special, always with a thirty-second delay for safety. It wasn't easy for him.

“At the start, he had many cars in front of him leaving their tracks, but he made the last 200 kilometers alone. I saw him hesitate here and there, but he didn't make any serious navigation errors,” commented Stéphane Peterhansel. “It wasn't easy. You would think that with our background and our years of experience, the stress would be less, but the Dakar is an important race and you always want to do well.”

“I remember that in 2021 I was winning, but that doesn't mean I wasn't stressed from start to finish. The fear of making mistakes and letting victory slip away always haunts you,” said the Frenchman, who sees Audi's victory in I arrive. “Carlos is in a good position, but Sébastien [Loeb] he is able to take ten minutes a day away from him, and even more if he takes risks. So I understand Carlos' stress, having 20 or 25 minutes is good, but if you have a technical problem in the end you lose them.”