Volkswagen’s Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz achieved their first stage win of this year’s Dakar and increased their lead in the overall standings during the tenth timed special from La Serena to Santiago yesterday.
As the Dakar left the Atacama Desert and made its way inland toward the Andes the conditions favoured former world rally champion Sainz, who revelled in the stony surfaces and sweeping bends that required controlled slides. The Spanish duo brought in their Race Touareg 28 seconds ahead of Stephane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret’s BMW X3 CC.
Sainz and Cruz might have been able to increase the gap between themselves and the rest of the field, but spent a lot of time behind teammates Nasser Al-Attiyah and Timo Gottschalk, who opted for an easier pace to ensure a fourth place finish, while fellow VW men Mark Miller and Ralph Pitchford, took third.
“80 kilometres after the start we caught up with Nasser. We stayed behind him because he couldn’t hear the Sentinel and we couldn’t get past. It was quite a slow and winding route, mostly lanes,” said Sainz.
Being first out yesterday proved daunting for Al-Attiyah, who’s 10 minutes behind Sainz in the overall standings. “It was very dangerous at that speed. There were a lot of corners, a lot of slippery stuff. For me it was not a good feeling and I’m really happy to have finished this stage without any problems,” the Qatari explained.
With Peterhansel and Cottret 2 hours 15 minutes behind the Sainz/Cruz’s Touareg, the chances of a VW 1-2-3 fish rest on Miller and Pitchford, who trail their leading teammates by 28 minutes.
“We were happy with third place today. Mark prefers the sandy desert stages to the world rally championship-type conditions we experienced today – fast, loose surfaces on hard roads with lots of corners and gear changes. We had no problems,” said Pitchford.
Nine-time Dakar winner Peterhansel, who anticipates a showdown between the top VWs over the next few days, has promised to do his best to stay out of the way.
“I hope I won’t get in the way of the fight for the lead because between Sainz and Al-Attiyah, it’s a fierce battle for first place. I wouldn’t want either of them to be in my dust and make a mistake. We will try and drive fast but if we hear someone behind, we’ll let them pass,” the Frenchman stated.
Today the competitors face 434 km, 220 of which are timed. They’ll cross the border at an altitude of 3 500 m on the Andes. To compensate for the restricted power at altitude, the mechanics will have had to make a few changes to vehicle settings. In Argentina, the drivers will have to spare the brakes as they face a descent of 20 km before reaching San Juan.