Carlos Sainz after the first stage of the Dakar: “We have achieved our goal. We have to strategize, but we also need to run.”

Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz were happy with what happened on stage one considering the important strategy they wanted to develop for the next few days, avoiding trouble with no punctures on the hard stones and getting the Dakar off to a smooth start. the Spanish were happy with him 6th place, 1 minute 54 points behind the leaderavoided the difficult challenge of having to open the course in Stage 2. And we argue that this Dakar will be full of strategy, as already happened in stage 1, when many of the favorites for victory gave up after reaching the tire change location.

However, Carlos subsequently received a 10-second penalty and was demoted to seventh place, but it might actually be for the better if he could drop some places at the start of stage two to buy more time or manage his margin with the rest of his rivals.

So the teams communicated their differences to their drivers to manage their pace. As he revealed to Sportish, Sainz avoided the risk, but had to give in even more. And in stage 2, it will probably become a trend. It’s unclear because Carlos didn’t want to reveal his cards, but the most logical idea seems to be to stay somewhere in the middle. The positions of 5th, 6th, and 7th hold steady without giving up too much, knowing that if they win a stage, they risk losing a lot of time at the track open the next day.

“Are you satisfied? Yes, I think we achieved the purpose of the stage. It’s a stage with a lot of rocks, so we had to be careful over the rocks to avoid getting a puncture. I think we’ll be fine, and tomorrow we’ll start from 6th.” (Finally finished in 7th place due to suspension)We will continue at our own pace, a stage for those who leave behind. ” When he arrived at the camp, he answered a question from this newspaper:

Carlos says they have to take it “one day at a time,” but they have to look beyond it. Always one day ahead. After the prologue, he was not interested in “doing a mega stage” in stage one and had already warned us not to open the track in stage two. and Now he wants to avoid opening the track in stage four, which means he won’t win in stage three.. Everyone manages complex strategic confusion in their own way, and above all, as long as so many fast cars are on the road without being abandoned, it can become a trend.

What is clear is that winning in the starting stage is becoming less and less interesting. Nani Roma told MD, “Extremes are not good.” In other words, winning is not good. “There will come a time when that will be the case,” Rome declares. Now it is important not to win, so as not to risk opening the stage, and at the same time not waste too much time. Ideally, he would be in the same position as Sainz and Roma, who finished eighth., Control and minimize lossesand stay in the fight, waiting for the attacks of others and their possible mistakes. In an elimination race, the person who makes the fewest mistakes wins. That’s the theory. It shouldn’t be the time to attack yet.

Attack in stage 2?

“Yes, but attacking when it’s this rocky…you risk getting a puncture, right? Well, I think you have to go fast and try not to get a puncture.”

Maybe it’s the Dakar where they’re not interested in winning a stage or staying in 6th, 5th or 7th place? Or do you want to attack a specific day instead of having already selected that day?

“I think we have to move forward one day at a time and tomorrow will be the day we try to go fast.”

What was that moment for you when you made a pit stop in the car?

“We stopped for 10 seconds and we didn’t have a flat tire and we didn’t have to change a tire, so it was very easy. They gave us time and told us a little bit about where we were and a little bit about the ideal situation from there to the end of the section.”

Do you think 6th place is optimal? What did you expect?

“Well, maybe if he had had another minute he wouldn’t have fallen further back. I think it would have been better for tomorrow, right? But it’s impossible[to control from the car].

But isn’t it fun to start with Stage 3, which is said to be difficult to conquer?

“I don’t know, but the starting order for the first day of the marathon is of course stage 3. It’s obvious that it’s not fun to have stage 3 ahead because there are no bikes. Because the first half of the first stage of the marathon, stage 4 (without team support at the end of the day), is longer than the second half of the marathon, stage 5, and there are no bikes (on both days of the marathon, there is no sign of bikes due to different routes).

Has David Castella made it harder to strategize this year?

“Well, at the end of the day you have to strategize, but you have to run and you have to win.”