Last-minute sanction for Carlos Sainz in Dakar: loses position

The sun has already set Yanbuin the bivouac of dakarwhen it was announced that sanctions would apply to three Fords in the classification after a dispute in Stage 1. There’s nothing to worry about. It only takes 10 seconds to apply to the time of Carlos Sainz, Matthias Ekström, Carlos SainzThe group said the violations were related to power delivery and a “torque meter” that measures whether a car is exceeding the maximum power set by the group when going through a curve.

It must be remembered that in order to ensure equality in the competition between top category vehicles with different engines, since last year a system has been introduced since the last Dakar to limit the power curves of different engines. FIA Anyone can monitor to make sure they are not exceeding the marked power. If a vehicle exceeds this power limit more times than allowed in any stage of its peak, the penalty can be of a different nature. And in this case, it was 10 seconds for these three cars.

This is not the first time something like this has happened; it has already happened. Nasser Al-Attiyah In the last race held in South Africa in the past FIA W2RC World Raid Championship 2025.

Calculating whether a car is within its power curve is not an easy task. And some are more risky than others. In this case, Ford may have taken a little more of a risk in that sense, exceeding the number of power peaks that exceeded the limit set by that curve than was allowed within the stage.

It’s not bad news for Carlos.

Sainz finished 6th in the first stage, 1 minute 54 seconds behind the leader, so this time he will be in 7th place, 2 minutes 04 seconds behind the leader. Therefore, the situation does not change much “Matador” Who might be even happier with this penalty, as they lose their starting position for stage 3 and have to either make up during the stage by following in the footsteps of the six cars starting in front of them, or simply manage their margins.

In fact, when Sainz spoke to the Spanish press at his bivouac, he seemed satisfied with his result before taking the penalty, after slowing down in the closing stages to concede time and consider a better starting position for the third stage. However, when asked if MD was the optimal outcome, he said he regretted not losing even one more minute.

“Well, if he had had another minute he might not have fallen further back. I think it would have been better for tomorrow, right? But it’s impossible[to control from the car],” he said. In this case, make it 10 seconds longer than expected. It doesn’t change much, but it might not hurt Carlos.