“Today we won the lottery.” Carlos Sainz said this at the end of Stage 5, the second half of the first marathon stage of this Dakar.

”“When my car alarm went off in the middle of the stage, I thought it was time to go home.” When he arrived at Ha’il’s camp a few days later, he added: Maximize stages 4 and 5after resolution It was one of the most difficult and stressful moments he experienced in Dakar.

The Madrid driver suffered engine trouble midway through the stage and thought he might be forced to drop out. As a result, the team told Spanish reporters at the service site that Ford was optimistic that it would not take long to disassemble the engine when the car arrived and that it could be repaired because it wasn’t broken.

But that wasn’t the only problem these past two days. Carlos had clutch problems from stage 4 onwards.the first half of the marathon stage. What’s more, The auxiliary truck participating in the race had an accident on Stage 2 and could not be saved.

They worked to repair the clutch until 11:30 p.m.

During the marathon stage, pilots do not receive assistance from camp mechanics, although some privileged pilots do. Must own an assistance truck to compete in the race to be considered a competitor. There are parts and mechanisms inside.

Therefore, the rest of the official team, with its help, was able to leave the car in the hands of the mechanics on the track, but Carlos and Lucas Cruz had until 11:30 p.m. to call. You will be instructed to fix the clutch.. They were lucky that Lucas Cruz’s friend, a mechanic on another racing truck, helped them out.

Broken parts could not be replaced. They listened to main engineer João Navarro and the team and knew what they had to do. They were glued to their phones all afternoon and into the evening. They were able to solve it that way. But they only had one bullet. The clutch only worked that one time and then stopped working.. So they decided to start the car with the starter and head to the starting line. And yes They had to step on the clutch to start the special and take advantage of their only opportunity.

After that, they relied on luck. If they stopped in a very difficult or uphill location, they would stay there. If it stops in a favorable area, it can be started with the starter motor. But to this was added the great fear of engine trouble. “Oil pump related”Carlos made this announcement to the Spanish press at the bivouac, including the MD. So they started praying to get there.

He had to take a risk: he jumped over a huge rock so as not to stop

“Helped? Yes, we had a pretty serious engine problem today as well. And in fact, they’re going to have to take the engine out of this and they’re going to check the damage and try to repair the problem. We’ve reached the finish line. We had a chance today. Between the clutch and engine problems, here we are, the truth is very good news.”commented.

to Carlos Sainz received a 1 minute penalty. That’s no coincidence. It was a complicated area so I couldn’t stop at that point. He was agile and fast along with Lucas Cruz. They decided not to stop. If I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be able to start again. Thus they assumed the sanction of the moment. The same thing happened during a trail ride and Carlos decided to jump over a large rock. It worked.

“I knew it was going to go right as soon as I hit the clutch, but it only happened once and I ended up starting in the stretch.”

“I knew it was going to go well as soon as I pressed the clutch, but it only happened once and I was supposed to start in the section.”

Carlos Sainz

“We just fixed it at 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. If I’m on stage and press start and stop. But if I’m somewhere on a slope or in the sand, I stay there,” he said.

“The problem is that in the trial area you use the clutch a little bit to see what’s going on and to stop. So today I couldn’t stop in the trial area and ended up jumping over a huge rock.he added.

“So today I couldn’t stop in the trial area and ended up jumping over a huge rock.”

Carlos Sainz

And when the doctor asked him if he was also satisfied with his position in the general classification, he smiled and made it clear that it was not his concern at the moment. I had to be grateful that I had arrived.

“I’m not worried at all, because today when the alarm went off in the middle of the stage, I was ready to go home. So I just flipped out.” he finished.

Previously, Carlos smiled when he met engineer Joan Navarro and then Malcolm Wilson. He smiled and shook hands with one of the mechanics. He arrived miraculously.