Dakar | Sainz: “Today I wasted time, but it's a strategy”

The fifth stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally was marked by the dunes, which extended for 118 timed kilometres, although with 527 connecting kilometers which put the drivers' bodies to the test, who are already preparing for the 48-km marathon hours with a special test divided into two days.

One of those who will go slowly in that part of the race will be Carlos Sainz, who, aware of the importance that this innovation will have, decided not to go flat in order to have a good starting position: “We tried not to go fast and to stop at the end to see if the strategy for tomorrow is good, but we'll see. I don't know, we stopped a bit, but we have to wait a couple more days to see if it went well or not.”

Furthermore, the Spaniard assured the media present, including Motorsport.com, that Nasser Al Attiyah's result was “quite good”, but the outcome of his plan will only be known after the start of the 48 Hours: “The stage it went well. The strategy we had was to stop for three minutes in case of arrival, and that's what we did.”

“The day after tomorrow we will see if it is a mistake or a success, anything is possible,” continued Carlos Sainz. “The time of Nasser [Al Attiyah] it's pretty good, and I don't know what pace he'll make tomorrow at the start. We, obviously, decided to do this, and the day after tomorrow we will see whether we made a mistake or not, we will have to wait.”

The Audi driver explained that he does not dare to say “which is the best”, but is aware that the Empty Quarter will be fundamental for the development of the 2024 Dakar Rally: “It is an important part of the rally just before the rest day, with the new situation of not having motorbikes for 600 kilometres. There are many new ingredients for the cars in this stage.”

His goal was nothing other than “to be fighting for the victory”, although he sees that the stages of the second week will also be complicated, and when he was asked to do the math when he got lost in the middle of nowhere in the special 48 hours, he replied, “It's possible. Besides, we'll have no idea how we're doing.”

“We have to check with the team if there are options to find out, but it will be interesting. The only thing you can do is accelerate and do your best and, as I said, tomorrow we will see if it was worth wasting time today, or go on the attack like Nasser did”, said the Audi native.