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ENRIQUE NARANJO
Updated
I had already been warning about it. “It will be the first great moment of the Dakar,” he ventured. Carlos Sainz on the eve of the 48-hour stage, the most feared by all the pilots and, especially, by those of Ford and Daciaboth teams with brand new cars.
In the mind of Sainz (as I’m sure also in the Nani Roma, Loeb or Al-Attiyah) the fear was that their brand new machines would not hold up, but they would not consider the possibility of their own error so much. But in the Dakar the danger is literally behind every dune. And in one of them it was where the ford raptor of the Spaniard ended up upside down after making a forced landing (first on the nose and then on the roof) when approaching it at more speed than expected. When the news of the reversal reached Spain, the same thing happened to the hearts of the Spanish fans. The Dakar seemed lost…
Luckily, reinforcements were nearby. Mitch Guthriehe rookie The American team soon arrived and, pulling the sling, put the Spaniard’s car on wheels instead of on the roof. Check for damage – especially fiber parts – and, 20 minutes later, back on track. And, at some moments, at rhythms similar to those of the head, which was initially hopeful.
Then came more problems that forced them to stop up to seven times: “It went from bad to worse, the car was overheating.” [por problemas en el radiador]we didn’t see [el parabrisas se rompió]”We punctured…” said Sainz, who did not also comment on a loss that, together, raised the initial 20 minutes to 59… Goodbye to the Dakar? Not yet.
Sainz, removing sand from his shoes.@dakar
Then… more answers
The final assessment of damages will have to be done this Monday. The first objective should be to complete the stage – there are 350 km left to travel, but with the car limping –. If they succeed, there will still be options even if the most likely thing happens: that they give up more time today. But… at the neighbor’s house they also cook beans.
The Achilles heel of the Dacia Sandrider
Sebastien Loeb He also left a shred of his hopes of winning the first Dakar, in this case due to the mechanics of the Dacia. An electronic problem affected the fans and left it without power. They had to stop up to three times and only the mechanical expertise of Cristina Gutiérrez’s co-pilot, Pablo Moreno Huetesaved the Frenchman. However, the most serious thing is that That seems like the Sandrider’s Achilles heel.since in stage 1 Cristina suffered with the same component.
Maybe that doesn’t let you sleep Al-Attiyah as calm as he should be knowing that the Three Wise Men leave him 59 minutes ahead of Sainz (from which we must deduct the 10 that the Spaniard enjoyed before leaving yesterday) and 30 over Loeb. And, as we already know, Al-Attiyah does not waste gifts…
