The first week of competition at the 2023 Dakar was a very difficult one for Carlos Sainz, full of events that put him out of the general classification. A kneecap problem on stage three delayed him, an accident on stage six put him out of the race, and having to help Mattias Ekström on stage seven was another setback.

On Sunday, he lost the eighth stage win due to a speeding penalty. The disappointment in this 45th edition of the rally was enormous, but the man from Madrid reporting to SPORT from the group Prensa Ibérica remains determined with his goals and points for the World Rally-Raid Championship as well as his intent to win. To continue improving the Audi RS Q e-tron E2.

How would you summarize the first week?

A big disappointment as nothing is going well for the team. First it was the broken kneecap we didn’t really know why, then the double accident with Peterhansel and we stopped again the next day when we found Mattias in need of help. Sunday was also a shame because we missed a victory due to the speeding penalty, but at least we’re at a good pace right now and that will get us to where the next stage should be.

Is it dangerous to hit the road so late, having to overtake 15 or 20 cars in a special race?

We are very lucky because we have to go back to the rules of starting from behind the dangerous and priority ones. Luckily there was no dust from the rains otherwise this would have been an adventure.

The feeling created is a bit strange. You are in the race but you are not because you can’t score in the final classification but you win the stages

The thing is, this year, considering the impossibility of flying helicopters at night, they didn’t want the race to scatter and the cars to scatter at night so they created closed doors and if you haven’t gone within a certain amount of time. you need to go directly to the destination through a waypoint.

It is difficult to understand that you are running, you can choose to win the stages and then it is recorded as if you did not finish it…

Two races in one race. Dakar on one side, World Cup on the other. Not understood but there is an independent test scoring for the World Cup every day. But because of this, it also doesn’t make sense that you have to start at 40 if you’ve had a problem. The problem is mixing two races in the same race.

In what spirit do you welcome the second part of this Dakar?

We should try to have a good week, keep improving, try to get as many special milestones as possible and stay motivated to keep the team learning. We don’t know what the future holds, but it’s always good to think that there will be a third opportunity and the more conclusions we draw, the better.

Destination World Cup?

No, we want to have a good week. We don’t know if we can execute it, there is no plan made for the World Cup and therefore we will manage it.

The first week was quite busy for other brands as well. Is speed climbing in cars the right way?

We are on the border. The speed is already limited to 170 km/h, but below this speed, you can crash, just like we did. 30 kW of power has been reduced from last year to this year. Cars are fast, drivers are too, but it’s true that Audi drivers push hard, because we saw that there is no way to keep up with the times. I don’t know how to go faster. And sooner or later you pay the price when you go to the border. If on the third day the FIA ​​confirms that we have less acceleration and that the car weighs a hundred kilograms, it is clear that there is no equality.

In 2022 Audi came to Dakar without a race, when racing in Morocco in 2023, don’t you think that more races are needed to develop faster and make the car more reliable?

You have to rethink this, in the sense that racing is the only way to improve and prepare better. No matter how many tests you do, rallies are an incomparable test. It happened to us in his time with Volkswagen. It is difficult to develop and take the right steps without racing with the car.