Dakar 2024: joys and sadness for Argentina on the threshold of the most inhospitable desert of Saudi Arabia

The sea of ​​sand, infinite, overbearingly majestic and intimidating, is the threshold of the much feared “Empty neighborhood”, the largest and most inhospitable desert on the Arabian Peninsula, where competitors will have a unique experience this Thursday.

But to get there, the crews had to complete the fifth stage, from From Al Hofuf to Al Shubatyah, on a route of over 630 challenging kilometres. Of course the dunes, mixed with different shades, colors and sizes, were the backdrop for the exhausting day.

The Argentines experienced all kinds of sensations during a Wednesday that for some was pure strategy, but for others was extremely traumatic, because they felt that the chances of fighting well at the top were diluted.

“I’m very happy with the stage. We did things as we planned and put ourselves in the ideal position to face these 48 Hours that are coming.“, commented Clarionwhile they ate in their trailer, Manu Andújar, the leader of the general classification of quadricycles.

“The Dakar takes place day by day and you can establish a strategy, but there is no formula for it to go the way you want. But we’re doing very well. Above all the quad is solid, I feel in good shape, I have confidence“added the Lobos driver, winner of the 2021 Dakar also here in Saudi Arabia.

The Argentine precedes the Frenchman Alex Giroud by 20’19” and will thus enter the highly promoted teams “48 hours”, which is sort of Stage of the marathonwhich the competitors will enter “Empty neighborhood”and at 4pm (local time) they will not be able to continue, so they will stop in one of the seven camps distributed in the inhospitable desert, to spend the night there and continue on Friday, heading to the Al Shubatyah camp, before the rest day in Riyadh, the Saudi capital .

Those who were also very happy were Juan Cruz Yacopinithe Toyota driver, who with the Hilux took third place in the 5th Stage, overturning the poor results of recent days. “This is the Dakar. It was bad, I wasn’t in the mood and today we moved on. We walked as fast as we could. The truck ran very well. We have always liked dunes. And now we are very competitive”the man from Mendoza explained.

By car, Qatar’s first victory of the 2024 Dakar Nasser Al Attiyahwho is now third overall, 10 minutes and 03 seconds behind the local driver, Al Rahji, escorted by Carlos Sainzwith Audi.

But the Dakar offers so many variations that the combinations are numerous. A few meters from the Toyota bunker, there was the shop of the KTM facility, which contains the representatives of the Austrian brand, Husqvarna and GasGas.

In the Benavides trailer the weather wasn’t the best. First up was Kevin, who arrived believing he was higher in the standings, but discovered he was in 13th place and became worried, as well as remaining fifth overall.

However, a few minutes later, Kevin’s problem was minimized, next to that of his brother Luciano. The current world champion of the specialty, like never before, got off the bike and locked himself away. Many minutes passed. He bathed, had lunch, made some phone calls and finally received Clarionsitting on a deck chair at the entrance to his bunker.

“It’s a very sad day. Yesterday I had developed the strategy of starting from behind in the sand. And it could cut a lot of time in the two stages of the Marathon. From kilometer 50 I started having problems with the bike. I arrived luckily“said Luciano Benavides.

With eyes full of tears, reflecting a moment of profound sadness in the privacy of his caravan, the man from Salta added: “I did everything I could to get there, in high gears so as not to stop. But in the end he broke down and I will have to change the engine. And with that will come the penalty and set me back. They are irons and these things happen. Now we have to come out with everything”. And he remembered: “I started to get scared because I thought I wouldn’t arrive. I had to use a lot of strength to get there. It stopped three times and I thought it wouldn’t start. But I arrived”.

Luciano Benavides finished 9th on the stage and 7th overall, but if he were given a 15-minute penalty, he would move to 12th, 45 minutes behind the leader, Ross Branch (Hero).

The Dakar 2024 enters “Empty neighborhood”the great desert of Saudi Arabia where the riders will spend the night in small camps, eat from the local military cuisine and increase the pace, to reach the rest day on Saturday with the intention of tackling the second part of the race in the best possible way most challenging race in the world: the Dakar.

Sainz and a video that sparked controversy in Spain

Carlos Sainz, one of the most popular personalities in the world of motor sports, competes in the Dakar, with the Audi team. In addition to his participation in Saudi Arabia, the two-time world rally champion and three-time champion of the Dakar rally became a protagonist on social networks when he was “caught” insulting the president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, while talking about the political situation of the country. Spain compared to Catalonia.

In the video, shared on the TikTok account @carburandotv, Sainz is seen in conversation with the brothers Kevin and Luciano Benavides, the Spaniard Nani Roma and the director of the Dakar Rally, David Castera. Just then he supposedly comments on the “situation in Catalonia” and sentence with a “asshole president” (asshole President). A video that has gone viral and is on news portals in Spain.