Test passed! Laia Sanz has left behind the dreaded queen stage of the Dakar 2024 that started yesterday and finished this Friday after 547 kilometers of fighting against the elements in the middle of the Saudi desert of the Empty Quarter. Or rather, the ELEMENT, in capital letters: the sand. The KH-7 driver and her co-driver Maurizio Gerini put on a demonstration of tenacity, management and talent to complete the route in a 4x2 buggy, obviously less capable than the 4x4s to cross the sea of dunes they encountered on this sixth stage.
The feat of the Spanish-Italian duo is extraordinary because they have managed to overcome the challenge without making mistakes, saving all the tricky situations they have encountered on their way to the finish line. If yesterday, in the first part of the so-called 48-hour time trial, they had to ease off the throttle to avoid running out of fuel and to find a way to overcome huge dunes with only two driven wheels, this Friday they had to drive with even more finesse, if that's possible. And when they had only covered about 45 kilometers, of the 145 they had left to cover, they began to have clutch problems. Something logical after the impressive effort to which they have subjected in two consecutive days without the possibility of mechanical assistance to the astara 02 Concept, which after a week of competition is proving to be a solid and competitive vehicle. From that point on, Laia Sanz had to use a lot of throttle to avoid punishing the car too much and thus complete the special stage.
Not surprisingly, as soon as Sanz and Gerini crossed the finish line, they exploded with euphoria: "We started shouting like crazy because 100 kilometers from the end the clutch started to slip and it was very hard for us to reach the end of the stage. We stopped to cool down the mechanics a bit, and we kept going, trying not to let the wheels slip so that the clutch wouldn't suffer. It was like a miracle to make it. We are very happy, satisfied with our work and proud to have reached the end of this marathon. It was very hard and, with the 4x2, very stressful".
Despite the toughness, the KH-7 rider is very positive about the unprecedented format of this stage spread over two days: "Personally, I really liked this 48-hour time trial, leaving aside the problems of consumption and clutch problems, because, in the end, this is the Dakar and it has to be tough, with days like this in which half the race is left out. It's always been like that, and that's something I've missed in recent years. I liked the philosophy of this stage, very hard, where it's not all about giving gas, but also about being smart and knowing how to regulate consumption. This is what the Dakar has always been about, which adds to the difficulty of the race.
With all the difficulties, and after 9 hours and 5 minutes of driving in two days, the astara Team duo finished in 43rd place overall, a result that mixes 4x4 cars, Challengers (formerly T3), SSV (formerly T4) - all of them much more suitable for the terrain they have encountered - and trucks with 4x2s like Laia and Gerini. Looking only at the car classification (called Ultimate), they finished in 25th position, and among the T1.2 (4x2) they were fourth. In the overall standings they now occupy 19th place, while in the two-wheel drive category they are third.
After leaving behind the first half of the Dakar, and already in the middle of a 1,000-kilometer liaison to Riyadh, where this Saturday the participants who are still in competition will enjoy a rest day, Laia Sanz assesses her race so far: "The balance we make of the first week is very positive. It's a pity to have lost a little too much time in the Empty Quarter, but as the stages have been, I'm very happy that we have overcome it," she explains.
"We are in a good position to fight during the second week of the rally and move up positions, as well as trying to regain second place in our category, which we lost in this stage. The car has been working very well, we are feeling very comfortable with it, even in the dunes, even if it is not reflected in the result because of the problems we have had. We are doing much better than last year, and the team is also doing a great job, so now we have to have a good second week. I hope that better stages will come for us and for our car," he concludes.
The competition will resume on Sunday with the dispute of the seventh stage between Riyadh and Al Duwadimi, with a total of 873 kilometers of which 483 will correspond to the special stage.
Automatic translation of the Spanish version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: KH-7/Sport - Laia Sanz's official press release
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