The Dakar, beyond a race with its winners and losers, are all the stories it hides behind. And of Oriol Vidal He is not only counted for his background, but also for a privileged position that may allow him to record his name in rally history. After 13 stages, the Catalan is within a shot of getting a Touareg as co-driver of Rokas Baciuska in T4. He is the highest Spanish representative to win the award in this 45th edition and surprisingly, just a year ago he thought of saying goodbye to the competition after Alsaif (his previous pilot) had a main lack, “that of money”. . The plan for this year was to continue together, Oriol told AS, “but things turned for the better and we are with Can-Am, Red Bull and leaders with one stage to go”.
Precisely that last special “is a formality, but in the Dakar anything can happen”. Oriol has learned his lesson well and despite the fact that his lead in the general standings against Goczal and Mena is more than three minutes, they will not talk about celebrations until they reach the finish line and everything has gone according to plan. It will be the shortest special of all (138 km), but the longest for the man from Girona. “It’s going to make me eternal”, He acknowledges, although he has preferred to “normalize a situation” that, however, is completely away from the usual. Leading in the toughest rally in the world is a privilege few can count on and Vidal has been doing it since the seventh stage. They have understood how the race works, despite the pressure from their rival they have not risked more than necessary to “not throw all their work overboard” and now it is time to aim for a victory that will serve as Reward all hardships left behind.
The competition and its setbacks burned Oriol, but when this opportunity came “not know what to do”. The Plan B It was “going back to a normal job and racing, having them as an extra”, but a project of this caliber convinced a co-driver who has finally found stability: “Before, I did not know what races I would do, when I would get paid or a thousand stories. You couldn’t plan your life. And at 20 nothing happens, but when you get closer to 30 things change ”. So much so that Vidal has gone from seeing himself at home to being three minutes away from having his first Dakar. That, that It ends the way it ends, it deserves a celebration: “We have done a great job and if luck is on our side, all the better. If not, we will keep the positive part after one of the toughest and longest Dakars”, which has known how to suffer and, of course, lead.