Audi It is one of the brands that Germany proudly exports to the world. Its four rings are always synonymous with performance, elegance and perfection, the same things that they have transmitted in their adventures in motorsport and that they aspire to do on the Dakar. But a very important part of the team has Spanish blood. Because the track engineers for each car are Catalan: Joan Navarro from Sainz, Dani Gratacós from Peterhansel and Arnau Niubó from Ekstrom. The three analyze for AS, and other Spanish media, what it is like to work at Audi together with Sainz.
Navarro is the closest to the Madrid rider and he counted on him from the very beginning of the project. “He explained all the negotiations to me and told me that his priority was for me to continue with him because we understand each other well. I started working on this project in May 2020 and I have been one more key piece in the design of the Audi: chassis, suspension, box gearbox, ‘cockpit’ … “, says Joan, who considers Carlos’s trust in him “an honor”: “He has worked with the best and that he chooses me is enormous praise, he is the best driver there is.”
The engineer defines the pilot in one word: “Demanding, without a doubt. He demands a lot from himself and from everyone. When it happens it forms like a small tornado, it revolutionizes everyone. “ Gratacós, whom Sainz knew from Peugeot, also agrees on this: “He called me, he tries to surround himself with people who give him confidence. He is super demanding, everything to the millimeter, nothing at random, he gives 200% and asks the rest the same “. “He makes the team advance, I have not seen any other rider like him, in that aspect he is unique”, says Niubó, who worked in F1 with De la Rosa or Ricciardo in HRT.
Roles in the team
“Our work is more focused on the track: talking with the drivers, the mechanics and improving the car. We do little data, we only look at the performance, but very in detail,” explains Navarro, who arrives with his previous experience in Mini and the Wearing the four rings assumes responsibility: “Not more than we had with Mini, but you want to do well for the brand and, above all, for teamwork. We are twelve people in each car, this is the most novel and complicated for me, the fact of coordinating all these works “.
Gratacós also tells how it is to work hand in hand with ‘Monsieur Dakar’, another key piece of the team: “Stephane is a ‘motard’, you can see that they are used to working alone, more with the ‘feeling’ and less with the technical. He is very professional, has a lot of experience and has everything very clear, although he is more introverted “. And Niubó “I knew Ekstrom for years in the DTM” and being with him “was the best solution” for the team. The three, together with the “leader” Sainz, Cruz and others, form the Spanish Audi family. An essential.