The 2024 Dakar Rally kicks off on January 5 with the Prologue stage and, before getting into the car, Carlos Sainz was all smiles and confidence. The Spaniard is preparing to participate in the seventeenth edition of the toughest race in the world in search of his fourth Touareg trophy and, although he admits that he cannot know what the future holds for him, he is optimistic thanks to the improvements made by Audi.
The Spaniard spoke to the media, including Motorsport.com, and nodded that “dreaming is free”, thinking only of victory: “What happens and what you think about is that you try to visualize a race, you try, how I have said on many occasions, that dreaming is free, and my imagination is also quite active.”
“I dream of having a good race and a good rally,” he said. “This is a bit the feeling I have now, trying to visualize in a positive way what can happen every day, with the Prologue. You make your own strategy and then, depending on how you come out [dopo il Prologo]you visualize how you would like the race to go.”
“I would like to see him up there, fighting from the start with the leaders, and this is easy to understand at this stage of the film when the race hasn't even started, we prepare all year to look for that scenario, where we fight until the end to win”, said Carlos Sainz.
The three-time winner of the Dakar Rally was also asked to respond to the words of one of his rivals, Nasser Al Attiyah, who said that, after just three days, the German company will abandon the race. And he was frank in his response, in which he seemed confident he could prove the Qatari wrong with what he does on the sand: “He is free to think what he wants.”
Carlos Sainz with Audi
The signing of reigning winner Saudi Arabia is one of the main attractions of this edition, although Carlos Sainz also sees Toyota as a good competitor despite its young line-up: “I think Toyota has good drivers and will be all 'height. Nasser [Al Attiyah]without a doubt, is last year's winner, and Prodrive I think has won six [tappe] with Loeb, so if you combine Nasser with Prodrive, it's a good mix, and with the hunter, in addition to Loeb, they have strengthened.
“Toyota, with Nasser, is stronger than without Nasser, you don't need to be a connoisseur to understand that,” explained the Spaniard, who does not forget Ford and M-Sport, but sees him more as someone to keep keep an eye out for the future. “The Ford car is an evolution of the first one they made, I think next year should mark its arrival, because this year, from what we've seen, it's not overly competitive, but anything can happen at the Dakar.”
While there may be several rivals standing in the way of Audi's goal, the two-time WRC champion and three-time Dakar Rally champion insisted that his brand is “courageous” to continue competing in the desert: “It has been a difficult year, more than we would have liked, with races with problems, but I also see the positive side.”
“I think what happened in Baja Aragon and Morocco will not happen to us now. You have to be very brave to bring this car and race it, and that's why a stage win or fighting for the victory in the Dakar with this car is so special”, said Carlos Sainz before starting the Saudi adventure.
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