DAKAR 2020

CARLOS SAINZ WINS HIS THIRD DAKAR

2010, 2018 and 2020. Carlos Sainz has just secured the third victory of his career in the Dakar, curiously all with different cars (Volkswagen, Peugeot and now Mini). The Spaniard, who won four victories in stages along the way, beat Nasser Al-Attiyah six minutes after 5,000 km of running, with Stéphane Peterhansel and Paulo Fiúza finishing in the lowest place on the podium.
As far as Portugal is concerned, history has been made, since Paulo Fiúza became the first Portuguese on the Dakar podium, in the autos, improving the record of Carlos Sousa in 2003, when he was fourth in the Dakar. On the other hand, it should also be noted that Reuben Faria and Hélder Rodrigues, former pilots who are inserted in the structure of Honda, who has just made history on motorcycles, since Ricky Brabec won the race, ending with the long dominance of KTM. A great achievement for Portuguese colors, in a Dakar perfectly overshadowed by the death of Paulo Gonçalves.
For Paulo Fiúza, if the feat of Carlos Sousa in 2004 was great, with the fourth place obtained, what Paulo Fiúza achieves in this Dakar is fantastic, because there are few events in which the Navigator is more important than in the Dakar. From today, Fiúza became, in the autos, the best Portuguese ever ranked in the Dakar, and in the Motos, Rúben Faria (2013) and Paulo Gonçalves (2015) were second ranked, the best lusa ranking in the Dakar of all categories.
Finally, it remains to be said that Pedro Bianchi Prata, Navigator of Conrad Rautenbach in the SSV, fought for the podium until the end, in what was his debut as a navigator in the competition.


Mini Red Bull Team

It's the return of El Matador! Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz won their third Dakar, the result of an almost exemplary, consistent race. They reached the first place in the third stage and have not left there.
They had less good days, for example in the 8th stage where they were lost, and had some luck of having succeeded Attiyah and Peterhansel. They won four stages, and the triumph in the tenth was the key moment of the race.
The 10th leg was interrupted at Km 345, at a time when Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini Buggy) lost 11m48s to Carlos Sainz and Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota), 17m46s, which meant that the overall ranking, as far as the first three concerned, was quite different from the 6m38s that separated the three competitors from the front at the start of that day.
From that moment and on a day when Attiyah and Peterhansel had everything to do to recover Sainz's time, the Spaniard was 18m10s ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota), with Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini Buggy) 16s behind the catari.
In two stages of the end, Carlos Sainz gained a significant margin, which allowed him to manage the last two days without major problems, even with the strong attacks of his opponents.
In view of this difficult Dakar, it is absolutely remarkable that at the age of 57, Carlos Sainz still had the resilience to win the race, especially in the face of opponents of the calibre of Nasser al Attiyah and Stéphane Peterhansel. After several events in which Luck was not on his side, with consecutive abandonment, between 2013 and 2017, he won the 2018 race, again had problems last year with the Mini Buggy, and returned this year stronger, he and the Mini, winning again the race. If the two World Rally titles are a great achievement, the now three Dakar victories are not behind. He had, like everyone else, some setbacks, but he managed to escape well from most of the traps, won with all the merit, ending with 6m21s advance to Attiyah, one of the smallest differences ever in the history of the Dakar.
Yazeed Al Rajhi (Toyota) finishes the Dakar in fourth, in what is his best ever ranking in the race, an even more tasty fact for the Saudi who ‘played’ at home. He was seventh last year without ever being in the top 10, which is remarkable being this only his sixth Dakar.
Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) finishes the race in fifth, a position he has only reached in the last few days, after a test without great glitter, but sufficiently efficient for a Top 5. He had problems opening the race, reacted in the second stage with a victory, but it was a wisp fire. With eight podiums in 16 editions, this Dakar is not among its best moments.
Orlando Terranova (Mini) aimed to repeat or improve the fifth place in 2014, but "stayed" for the sixth place he also achieved in 2017. A test with very highs and lows, that he did not go well in the decisive phase. After being third in Stage 8, the ninth went badly for him and from there he gave in until losing fifth place to de Villiers.
Bernhard Ten Brinke (Toyota), Mathieu Serradori (Buggy Century), Yasir Seaidan (Mini) and Wei Han (Buggy Geeley) closed the top 10.

José Luis Abreu, de Portugal and Mundoquatrorodas