Carlos Sainz intends to devise a strategy: “It’s not good to be ahead in the second half of the marathon stage”

Carlos Sainz It will not be easy for the Touareg to win this Dakar Rally. The marathon stage has arrived and he needs to start attacking in order to close the gap to overall leader Nasser Al-Attiyah by 10 minutes and 39 seconds at the end of stage 8.

The day before the marathon stage of the decisive battle began, the duel in the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia was so close that the stage was merely a filler. There are no major changes. It has been a really interesting rally for the Matador.

“Yes, it was a long stage and quite a pace, but we were all going very fast and there was little difference. We arrived at the most important part of the rally, the second marathon stage, and there were no bikes in front of us.It’s still about 10 minutes away, but there are 4 or 5 cars of different brands stuck together. truth is beautiful It’s a rally,” he told the media after arriving at the camp.

strategy

For Sainz, the next two stages will decide his future in the Dakar. However, the problem of shortening the time on the first day of the marathon could have the opposite effect in the second half, when everything is decided.

“It’s a positive thing to come out behind Al Attiyah, but… We’ll have to see how it goes the next day, but that’s the most complicated part. 2nd stage of the marathon, I don’t think it’s going to work out like this.. Well, since I don’t have a motorcycle, I’m thinking more about my strategy for the marathon stage,” the four-time winner of the world’s toughest rally concludes.