Another one in the bag! Laia Sanz has once again achieved what very few have been able to do: finish the Dakar Rally for the 14th time. In her case, moreover, she has done it consecutively in a hundred percent of completed participations; 11 on a bike and 3 in a car, a record that no Spanish rider has ever achieved before. The KH-7 rider finished the 46th edition of the so-called toughest event in the world of motorsport on the podium of her category, the one reserved for two-wheel drive vehicles (T1.2), at the controls of the astara 02 Concept, and in an excellent 15th position overall, which surpasses the classification that she herself held as the best result of a Spanish rider in cars -she was 23rd in 2022-.
The driver from Corbera de Llobregat (Barcelona) and her co-driver Maurizio Gerini had started the last day of competition in 17th position overall, just over 8 minutes behind 15th, a difference that in the 174 timed kilometers scheduled for the 12th and last stage seemed difficult to reverse. However, the Catalan rider regained 15th place at the last moment, a position she held for three days in the second week of the rally, until several problems caused her to lose a few places.
This is how the Spanish Astara Team rider assessed her result at the end of the Dakar: "I'm very proud to have finished my 14th consecutive Dakar, because it's a very difficult thing to do. Yesterday, for example, we were on the verge of not being able to finish. A lot of things happen in this race, and even more so in a car because the mechanics are more complicated than on a bike, so I'm very happy to have finished and to have finished in the Top 15 overall and third in the category. It is a result that we would have signed before starting. I want to thank the team and Maurizio for their hard work. In the end the Dakar is a race where nothing is decided until the last day. We had problems on other days and some riders had them today. It's a pain, but it counts until the last kilometer".
In fact, Sanz and Gerini also had a setback in the section, which they were able to solve, just when they were riding in 14th place: "It was a pretty fast stage, in which we were going well, but we had a puncture and had to stop, which made us lose about 3 or 4 minutes. Today we tried to run, but without losing our heads. In addition, we saw that Eugenio Amos had an accident at the beginning of the stage, and seeing these things makes that, being the last day, you go with more calm to not have any big scare. We didn't have many options to recover or lose positions, so we went calm and safe", until we crossed the finish line of the special in 26th place overall and 4th in T1.2.
Beyond the final classification, the KH-7 rider has left great flashes of her quality as a driver -now also a car driver. In the course of the race she beat her best time twice: in the second stage she was 16th and in the fourth, 14th, but the most remarkable thing is that when everything went well she showed that she has the speed and ability to ride in the top ten. The 4th place he recorded in the first part of stage 10, before suffering a mechanical failure with the auto-inflation system, is the biggest confirmation of this.
"I think I've taken a step forward. More than the result, we are left with the feeling that when we have been able to do a clean stage, we have gone fast and we have done very good partial stages. This motivates us a lot, because we have seen that we can be even further ahead. We have to keep working, but I take very positive things from this Dakar. I think the result could have been even better, because we had some small problems during the second week, but we are proud to have managed well, because this rally is also about that", she explains.
The 46th edition of the Dakar was probably the toughest and most demanding of the five that have taken place in Saudi Arabia. Each of the 4,671 kilometers of special stage, of the total of 7,909 kilometers covered this year, have given a good account of this, especially in stage 6, the so-called 48-hour time trial, where a sea of dunes in the middle of the Empty Quarter put many participants in check. That difficulty is precisely what Laia Sanz values most about the new course set by the race organizers.
"I loved this edition. I think it was a real Dakar; it wasn't just about racing, which of course you have to do, but above all we had to manage the race, hold on and take care of the mechanics. It was very hard, and this was missed. Without a doubt, for me it has been the most beautiful that has been held in Saudi Arabia. I think a Dakar has to be like this, because I think that when you finish it has more value.
And it does have value! The same as the 14-time Dakar finisher, who left no doubt about her intentions in her last message before celebrating her success: "Now it's time to go for the 15th".
Automatic translation of the Spanish version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: KH-7 / Laia Sanz's official press release
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