BarcelonaThe Dakar ends this Friday. From here we will know who will be the kings of the desert who will be crowned after overcoming more than 8,000 kilometers in just over a week and a half.
Carlos Sainz finishes the job
The penultimate stage of this Dakar was a surprise for the drivers: it would be the toughest and most expensive of all. The one who managed it best was Carlos Sainz, who finished the day with a first position – for the second time this edition – in just under three and a half hours. “It’s been a very, very difficult stage, with a little bit of everything: camel grass, dunes, more dunes, sailing, rocks, all kinds of terrain. It’s been pretty hard and I’m happy,” said the Madrid man once crossed. the finish line. Sainz, who will be left off the podium in this Dakar despite the good performance, will see from afar how Prince Al-Attiyah wins his fourth Dakar. With more than half an hour ahead of Sébastien Loeb, the Qatari has the title to play.
Motorcycles, the most open category
A special over 150 kilometers will decide who is the champion on two wheels. During the eleven days of competition already played, different drivers have led the general and have touched with their fingertips the coveted title. Now comes the hour of truth. Even better on the last day of competition is the British Sam Sunderland, who is in first place with a margin of almost seven minutes from his pursuer, Pablo Quintanilla. The 32-year-old from Southampton set an impressive pace in the eleventh day special that began and ended in Bisha, and was followed by his brother-in-law, the Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren. Now he only has the mission to control the last stage, less than 200 kilometers, with the handicap that will have to open the track.
Gerard Farrés takes the lead
The Catalan driver Gerard Farrés is about to achieve a totally unexpected feat. The man from Manresa, who faced the Dakar as a teammate of his teammate, Austin Jones, has been planted in the last stage of the Dakar being first in the general of the side by side, in class T4, of light vehicles. With his second position this Thursday in the penultimate day and the problems that his teammate has had, who lost all the traction of his vehicle, he is positioned as the big favorite to take the title in the competition of hardest engine in the world. Gerard, however, will wait for the team to tell him if he can fight freely in front of his teammate, although he makes it clear that he knows what his role is in the team and that “first of all he is a professional”.
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