Dakar Dakar
Sainz angry after Dakar disaster that will keep him “awake at night”
Carlos Sainz Sr says that the mechanical woes he endured on the third stage of the Dakar Rally, that cost him his lead, were like watching “a film to keep you awake at night”.
Charles Bradley Mario Galan
Edited: Jan 4, 2023, 2:47 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Spaniard, who is bidding for his fourth victory in the Rally-Raid classic, lost a huge amount of time to his rivals after he was forced to stop twice for problems with his Audi RS Q e-tron E2.
He started the 467km special between Alula and Ha'il with an advantage of 2m12s over reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah of Toyota, with both drivers having scored one stage win apiece during the opening two days of action in Saudi Arabia.
But Sainz was first forced to stop at kilometre 213 due to a breakage in the hybrid machine’s left-rear corner.
Explaining what had happened to a small group of media, including Motorsport.com, he said: “The stage started well, because I caught [Erik] Van Loon, I was catching Nasser and he stopped with a puncture and we passed him.
“I was going really well, with a good pace, but suddenly, on a right-hand corner, I felt something strange in the rear suspension. A ball joint broke. We don't understand why it has broken, they are strong ball joints, which have never given problems.
“We had [a spare] in the car and we stopped to change it. Neither Lucas [Cruz, his co-driver] nor I are happy with how we did the job, because it could have been done quicker.”
Having lost 30 minutes, a further 20-minute delay was to follow, with a puncture repair going disastrously wrong – forcing Sainz to wait for Audi teammate Mattias Ekstrom to help.
“I kept going, attacking hard, but we had a flat tyre,” he said. “And we had a problem with the jack, also our mistake, it wouldn't go up, and we had to lift the car with some rocks to change the tyre.
“When we did that, we punctured the other one, and in the repair process one of the screws was screwed in, and when we went to remove the wheel of the second puncture there was a screw that we couldn't remove.
“We also broke the wheel spanner, and we had to wait for Ekstrom to change it. It was a film to keep us awake at night.”
#207 Team Audi Sport Audi: Carlos Sainz Sr, Lucas Cruz
Photo by: A.S.O.
Sainz is now more than half an hour behind leader Al-Attiyah, who also had a difficult day and finished outside the top 10 on the stage. The Toyota ace now holds a 13m20s lead in the general classification over privateer Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Overdrive-run Toyota).
Stephane Peterhansel is the top Audi driver in the standings in third – albeit 20mins off the top spot. Sainz has a 33m11s deficit to make up in the remaining 11 stages of the marathon.
“We're still here,” added Sainz. “With a clearer strategy, to go on the attack and try to recover.
“Half an hour in a Dakar is a lot, but in the end we are seeing a Dakar where a lot of things happen, and if that's the trend, let's hope that they don't happen to us anymore and that it happens to those at the front.
“Now that we're going to have to change our strategy, and by going on the attack you're also buying chances for more things to happen to you, but we're going to try and we're not going to let that happen to us.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Dakar 2023, Stage 3: Al-Attiyah takes lead, nightmare for Sainz
Next article Dakar 2023: Al-Attiyah extends lead as Loeb beats Peterhansel to Stage 4 win
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Charles Bradley
Mika Hakkinen on his darkest day in F1
Formula 1
Formula 1 1 y
Mika Hakkinen on his darkest day in F1
Dillon: Spotter was “wrong” to shout “wreck him!” before Hamlin clash
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Aug 13, 2024
Dillon: Spotter was “wrong” to shout “wreck him!” before Hamlin clash
Hamlin: NASCAR stripping Dillon of win would be “warranted”
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Aug 12, 2024
Hamlin: NASCAR stripping Dillon of win would be “warranted”
More from
Carlos Sainz Sr
Carlos Sainz sends heartfelt message to dad Carlos Sainz Sr ahead of Dakar Rally
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya Pre-Season Testing
10 mo
Carlos Sainz sends heartfelt message to dad Carlos Sainz Sr ahead of Dakar Rally
Carlos Sainz’s historic Ford Escort WRC expected to fetch £350,000 at auction
Culture
Culture Aug 10, 2025
Carlos Sainz’s historic Ford Escort WRC expected to fetch £350,000 at auction
Carlos Sainz Sr drops out of FIA presidency race
General
General Jun 25, 2025
Carlos Sainz Sr drops out of FIA presidency race
Latest news
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 1 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 1 h
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
2 h
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe