Carlos Sainz ready for battle: “I’m already feeling a little nervous from the race, I’m motivated to start and I feel good.”

Carlos Sainz attended Addressing the Spanish press at the bivouac, including Sportish.hours before the start of the 2026 Dakar, begins with a battle for the 20km-plus prologue stage that will determine the starting order for Sunday’s stage one. The Madrid native tried his hand at it. Raptor EVO T1+ We had a great result in the last shakedown and we are very happy with the performance of the car and are looking to win the championship for the fifth time. dakar And raising the bar with two records he already holds. In 2024, he will become the oldest champion (61 years old) and aims to break that record at 63 years old. Furthermore, following the winning record with four brands, we aim to win for the fifth time with five brands.

The Madrid man was excited and wanted to continue making history in what was expected to be a closely contested race. Dacia, Toyota, Ford.

“The feeling so far, well, it’s normal before the Dakar, but the last two weeks we’ve been preparing all year long, we’ve been working all year long, so it’s normal to be the day before, because already the tension of the race has subsided a little bit. Shakedown? Well, everything went well, no problems, no surprises, that’s what’s important.”he expressed.

In this very crowded and unpredictable race for the throne, one of the keys could be the dreaded stone punctures in stages 1, 2 and 11, with the organization introducing pit stop points to change tires, albeit at the cost of time. With this, Dakar is hoping that stones will not decide the race. However, there is one difference between the teams. That’s a new tire. Some Toyota drivers and co-drivers claim that the tires are much better and don’t go flat. “I only got out of the car once in Morocco,” Armando Monleon told MD, stressing that the tires do not go flat. But they don’t think the same way about DACIA and Ford.

Carlos agrees, and believes that by reducing the amount of tires in the profile, there may be more punctures than before.

“Well, the tires are not what I would call them. The tires are reinforced in this part of the tread, but not so much on the sides. So from my point of view, I think they are more prone to punctures this year than in previous years,” he told MD.

“So does this decide the race?” the newspaper asked. “Obviously we’ll see who it’s marked in favor of, Toyota, Ford, Dacia, it could be marked in favor of someone else, because it depends somewhat on how each driver and each team is managed,” he added.

What is your strategy for the prologue?

“I don’t think I’m going to reveal the strategy here, but it might not be a bad idea to be in front on the first day. I say no, so I don’t know. I think we’ll take it day by day. The important thing is to get through and have a good feeling. For me, that’s the most important thing. I don’t think the prologue of the 13-day race is that important.”

Has the car reached its best point?

“I think so, better than last year. We debuted here last year and had a good test. I don’t think I’m lying, but the fact that Matthias Ekström came third in the car’s first year means that the car was pretty good for a 100% new car. This year we’ve had another year of experience from last year’s Dakar, we’ve been testing, and I think this year’s car is better prepared than last year. At least that’s what I’d like to think about.

How long do you want to start?

“Especially after last year, I don’t feel like doing that. Right now I have to control myself and not get too enthusiastic (so as not to exceed my pace or risks). I think it will be a Dakar where I judge each day one by one and keep the pace right every day. I have to stay calm.”

Have you seen Toyota’s new car?

“No, I haven’t had time to look at it, but I know the engineer. He’s an engineer who has built many world rally champion cars. He’s going to use all that knowledge to make it a very well-built car.”

Message to fans

“Well, the only message I can send is my gratitude, not just for this Dakar, but for the support over the years. That’s how I really feel and I hope to be able to compete in the Dakar and I hope you all enjoy it with us all.”