The feared 48 Hours Stage of the 2024 Dakar was supposed to prepare big surprises, such as the technical “KO” of a Nasser Al Attiyah who remained stranded for hours in the dunes of the Empty Quarter, with the result that his chances of winning the his sixth Touareg trophy went up in smoke. Everything smiles instead for Carlos Sainz who, despite not winning the 549 kilometer special test, placed second and maintains the lead in the general classification.
The Spaniard appeared at the start of the stage with the possibility of closing the gap on the then leader, Yazeed Al Rajhi, but with the accident the Saudi left the scene, immediately handing over the lead to the Audi driver. With calm and poise, the three-time winner of the event crossed the dunes of the largest sandy desert on the planet and built up a twenty-minute lead over the overall leader, Mattias Ekstroem.
Photo by: Audi Communications Motorsport
#204 Team Audi Sport Audi RS Q e-tron E2: Carlos Sainz Sr, Lucas Cruz
Therefore, the Spaniard could only have words of happiness after the first part of this event in Saudi Arabia, even if he is aware that not everything has been decided: “It was a difficult special stage, but we survived. We reached the day of rest in the head, which is a good balance of the first week, and now we must continue to move forward, as we started, day by day with humility, and trying to continue to overcome the stages without major errors, to see what happens.”
The best thing for Carlos Sainz was the more than two hours lost by the Qatari, and although he has a margin over his Swedish teammate, he must not overlook Sébastien Loeb, who achieved his 25th stage victory in the history of the Dakar Rally, thus becoming the seventh driver, tied with Hiroshi Masuoka. The Frenchman is just under half an hour away from the leader in the general classification, which makes the three possible candidates to win the right to be the next winner of this edition of the Dakar.
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