The man from Madrid, who received a visit from his son, staged a great comeback in the first stage of the 2023 Dakar Rally and gave Audi their second victory in this edition
He came to be 3:17 behind his teammate Mattias Ekstrom, but ended up beating him at the finish line, with more than 7′ ahead of Al-Attiyah. . Now he is interim leader
Carlos Sainz (Audi) staged a great comeback in the first stage of the 2023 Dakar Rally, in which he came to be 3:17 behind his partner Mattias Ekstromwhom he dethroned in the last 90 kilometers, in which he also overtook the Frenchman Sebastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme).
The Madrid driver, who received a visit from his son, the Ferrari driver in F1 Carlos Sainz Junior, completed the 367 kilometers of special in 3h20:41 and snatched the victory from the Swede, who was third, 47 seconds behind, and the Alsatian, who had to settle for second place, 23 seconds behind.
The three-time Dakar champion (2010, 2018 and 2020) He achieved his third victory with the hybrid Audi and the forty-second in his 16 Dakars. A triumph with more merit, if possible, after overcoming the first obstacle that presented itself.
Bolstered by his victory in the prologue, the Swede Mattias Ekstrom (Audi) set the best time (20:48) at kilometer 37, with 11 seconds over the Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota). Sainz, who started fifth, had problems and was 2:41 behind his teammate. The ‘Matador’ had to come back.
The Swede remained in front after the first 88 kilometers of the special, albeit with only two seconds on Guerlain Chicherit Y Stephane Peterhansel third at 1:27. Sainz It went further but 3:17 was left compared to the first.
Those who were behind ekstrom They alternated positions. chicherit remained second after 133 kilometers, at 1:03 and Sebastien Loeb He moved to third place, still far from those ahead of him in the stage standings, almost two minutes behind Audi.
The Frenchman stormed the second position at the 168 kilometer crossing point, the penultimate reference point before the finish line, but was not able to close the gap with the leader. Sainz, sixth at the time, was almost four minutes behind Ekstrom and less than two from the nine-time world rally champion.The victory began to get complicated for Ekstrom after 277 kilometers special, 90 for the end of the stage. From behind, they pressed.
The situation had improved considerably for Sainz. In the last ‘waypoint’, the Spaniard passed third with the same time as chicherit58 seconds Loeb and less than two minutes behind the leader, with Al Attiyah to 25 seconds.
Sainz completed the epic in the final part of the stage and finished with 23 seconds ahead of the Alsatian, 47 seconds over Ekstrom and more than a minute over Chicherit. Also, he put 7:09 on Al-Attiyah.
In general, the man from Madrid leads with 10 seconds over Loeb and 33 over Ekstrom.