It is never easy to get over an upset. Sometimes it takes longer than desired, but you always have to fight to keep going because something good may be waiting around the corner. This can be applied to all areas, but where it concerns us, it happened to Carlos Sainz in the third stage of the Dakar. The first day could not start more crooked by that trap that he will never forget, the second he recovered sensations and Tuesday came the best news yet: his first win in the hybrid Audi. Historical.
Some may see an exaggeration to qualify a triumph for a pilot who has won so many stages, but it is because it is 40 and, especially, for become the first of a car with an alternative motorization. A complete success in the vast career of the Madrid native and in Audi’s history just beginning in the Dakar. Sainz had a very strong pace from the first moment of the forced loop around Al Qaisumah. He started third, pushed more and more and finished the 255 km of special (cut by floods) with the best time.
In fact, Sainz passed Al Attiyah on the track. He left three minutes behind the Qatari (fined 5,000 euros for completing the previous stage without the black box that records the car data) and he got a little more than five on the finish line, where he also finished before Loeb. The French opened the track and had a disastrous day. He suffered two punctures, broke the transmission and gave up more than half an hour with Sainz and, what is worse, 28 minutes with Nasser. With what Toyota’s remains the solo leader with a 37 advantage.
Another Hilux, that of the South African Lategan, was the one that got closest to Carlos, at 38 seconds, and the other two Audis also stayed close: Peterhansel, third at 1:41 and Ekstrom, fifth at three minutes. In between, Nani Roma. The Catalan is taking steps similar to those of Sainz in this Dakar and He also had a great day repeating Top 5. Difficult to better overcome the setback of the first day, although both will regret it for a long time seeing the level they have … and that the leader can almost go to a hand after they forgive the disqualification.
