Nasser Al-Attiyah He is the happiest man in Dakar 2022. At least for this first week. The Qatari rider is the leader of all the categories with the most advantage over his main pursuer in the classification table, with about 50 minutes of advantage. And it is that the first week of competition has been practically perfect for Al-Attiyah, who has seen how his rivals were losing and losing options to win the Dakar 2022.
During the rest day in Riyadh, Nasser Al-Attiyah He has appeared with various media and has reviewed various current affairs. Among them, the chaotic ‘waypoint’. “We are the best,” he declared after being asked how they got the point so quickly. “We run a lot of rallies and other people come alone to the Dakar, it’s not our problem. Matthieu (Baumel) is one of the best cross country co-drivers in the world.. Last year we got lost in the tenth stage and we lost the Dakar, sometimes it happens, but you need to work. If you follow the tracks of a car, you can get lost or get stuck in the ‘roadbook’, “he added in an interview with the newspaper AS.
And he also had words for Carlos Sainz. “Carlos always complains, it is normal. It is not the first time, he almost always makes the same story for nothing. He needs to respect the organization, it is not fair to criticize them. And it is not right to say that a pilot receives help from the organization, but The same can be said when Mini won and we cannot say it. We have to respect everything, that is what we need in this sport, “he explained seriously.
What’s more, Al-Attiyah He added that “sometimes Carlos and Sven cross the line.” “You can make mistakes and Lucas is one of the best co-drivers, but if you don’t give him the opportunity to compete – we have won the World Cup here in Arabia, in Hail, and we knew what would come. You need to compete in races, not be at home from one Dakar to another. We worked very hard, we competed in four races last year and we won them, “he concluded his words about the Spanish driver.
The leader likes the rules
It is normal. The Qatari has had everything to ask for in the first week, so it seems difficult that the pilot was not delighted with the new rules of the competition. “Now everything is equal,” he argues. “We are all in the same boat and you can make a difference. Before, the rules between T1s and buggies were not the same, but now we are all even: Audi, Toyota, BRX – Same wheel sizes, suspensions & mldr; We had been asking for this for a long time, if we had had this technology from the ‘buggies’ before, I think we could have won some Dakar, “he explained Nasser.
Even the advantage of fifty minutes, the Qatari pilot is not confident. To the–Attiyah He also had words in reference to Sébastian Loeb and acknowledged that “he saw him as the main rival because we did not know anything about the Audi, which will be strong next year. ‘Seb’ had problems one day and yesterday he lost, it is something that can happen sometimes”.
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