First hot topic and first question for Dakar 2026: No unanimity

the stone will return Dakar 2026 Stage 1 (Today), 2, 11 And car drivers are already afraid of tires because they can suffer multiple punctures, which can start to make a difference in the race.

So far, the organization has revealed that “There are fewer stones than usual.” And it’s not decided by the winner. David Castella thinks so. Although the pilots don’t believe it. In this sense, in order to prevent favorite teams from being eliminated at the first chance, as was the case with Loeb in 2021, the Dakar Rally has introduced pit stop areas where drivers can change tires, load up on new spare tires and head to the finish line.

In this situation, some people turn their attention to tires. New and improved tires have been introduced for this Dakar, but each manufacturer has completely different opinions.

Armando Monleon, Toby Price’s co-driver at ToyotaMD assured us a few weeks ago that the new tires are vastly improved and more resistant to punctures. “At the Morocco Rally, I only got off once, and that never happened.”he said. However, when the MD emphasized this phrase to another pilot, he had a different reaction. Isile Esteve also drives a Toyota carcompletely agree and made it clear that great tire manufacturers always improve with development. Some Dacia drivers disagreed. So is Carlos Sainz. “Well, I’m not saying that. The treads of the tires (the middle part that touches the ground) are reinforced, but the sides are not. So from my point of view, I think they are more prone to punctures this year than usual.”

“So, does this decide the race?” asked the MD. “We’ll definitely see who it’s marked in favor of, and whether it’s Toyota, Ford, Dacia, it could be marked in favor of someone, because it depends a little bit on how each driver, each team is managed.”he expressed. The next day, during the prologue stage, the Toyota’s late gun had a flat tire.

What does Carlos Sainz’s opinion mean?

The problem with previous tires was that they had a lot of slow punctures, and drivers hated it. These punctures were caused by small stones that broke the tread and were out of the pilot’s control and unpredictable.

So manufacturers solved this problem by strengthening the tread in a new evolution of tires. But some now think the setback may be different. Consulted with some pilots Doctor of Medicine In bivouacs, by reinforcing the tread (the part that contacts the ground), To reduce the weight increase associated with this change, we have made the sides lighter. of tires. and Carlos said the stone on the side could make it more easily punctured than before.

If the tire’s air pressure is normal and it is in contact with the ground, its sides will deform a little more and the chances of it happening will increase. So teams concerned about this happening may choose to increase the pressure on the rubber to keep the sides flatter. However, this leaves the pilot with less grip and more slippage, and he has to deal with these setbacks in his driving.

Some pilots are very satisfied. Some are concerned about the possibility of further blowouts. Stages 1 and 2 of the Dakar will decide the verdict, vindicating both sides and ending or sparking the first debate of this Dakar 2026 in the battle for the car title.