Peru, sandman for Loeb & Co.

Only one country, but a complete set: with names such as Loeb, Peterhansel, Sainz, al-Attiyah or Van Beveren … The 2019 edition of Dakar rally-raid (6-17 January) was the full competitor side failing to have gone beyond the sandy boundaries of Peru. For the 41st edition of the Dakar, whose course was unveiled yesterday in Paris, will take place for the first time in its history in a single country. This is due, among other things, to austerity policies affecting South America. Exit then Bolivia and Argentina (2018), Paraguay (2017) or Chile (2015) … Only Peru remained faithful to the famous rally-raid.

"It will not be a Dakar at a discount," nevertheless promises the race director, Étienne Lavigne. "It's an extraordinary edition. (…) This year, we will have to face difficult terrain that requires very good physical preparation. The dune, the sand, are very technical environments, "he explains. On the menu, for the 334 vehicles registered, 10 stages and 5,000 km – including 3,000 special stages – for a rally 100% Peru but, above all, 100% sand. "With the sand, we plunge into the heart of the DNA of the Dakar. Originally, the mythology of the Dakar, it is the Sahara, its dunes, its big sandbars … There, one is at the heart of the subject, assures Lavigne. Peruvian geography is a large coastal plain wedged between the Pacific and the Cordillera. It promises ten extremely demanding days for all competitors, because it will be shorter, harder. More demanding also since there is less time to make the difference. "

A race of tenors

To win in Lima on January 17, it will indeed "know how to spend the dunes, but also postpone a tight competition after a program" very technical ". Most of the recent winners will be in the game: Spaniards Carlos Sainz (2010, 2018) and Nani Roma (2014), Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah (2015), South African Giniel de Villiers (2009), and that the French Stéphane Peterhansel (13 wins between 1991 and 2017, 6 in motorcycle and 7 in cars) and Cyril Despres (2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013 in motorcycle) are thus aligned on the starting line. Like Sébastien Loeb, a nine-time world rally champion, but never crowned in the Dakar. In three remarkable entries, the Frenchman has the best result in 2nd place in 2017. He will be keen to redeem himself after his retirement from the 5th stage last year, planted in the Peruvian desert. Following the withdrawal of Peugeot, he returns as a private pilot and with the dream of becoming the first independent to win since Jean-Louis Schlesser in 2000.

"The great tenors of the discipline are all there, those who made the history and reputation of the Dakar … Peterhansel, Despres, Sainz, al-Attiyah, de Villiers. They all won at least once. They come back for the victory on different vehicles. This Dakar 2019 will be a race of tenors, specialists, "insists the boss of the Dakar. "They bring a competition even higher, even more demanding. The more people there are, the stronger it is in terms of competition and uncertainty. They all have strengths and weaknesses that they will have to manage, that they will have to apprehend. Over ten days collected like that, in terms of kilometers, where it will be necessary to quickly make the difference, there are many legitimate contenders for the victory, "he said.

These dunes, the pilots wait for them as much as they fear them. "With all that sand, it would be nice to be able to see through the dunes," smiled Carlos Sainz. Behind any dune, there can be a hole and you can lose a lot of minutes. The peculiarity of sand and desert is that there can be surprises every day. On the Dakar, there is no quiet stage. You have to be extremely attentive and have a little luck … "Same story on the side of" Mr. Dakar ", Stéphane Peterhansel. "This year it will be shorter but also more intense. There are big dunes, you can lose a lot of time by sinking or looking for points of passage, says Peterhansel from the top of his 13 wins. The fault is very easy to do. You have to know how to read the terrain, to understand it. Shorter, that does not mean easier. In these seas of dunes, these mountains of dunes, you have to find the right passages. "

Source: AFP

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