Sainz explains mammoth time loss after Dakar navigation error
Sainz, who led the opening stage of the occasion, suffered a frustrating third day of action by ending it 33m34s off overall chief and X-Raid Mini crew-mate Stephane Peterhansel.
Despite briefly main the 406km Wadi Advert-Dawasir third stage, Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz ranking been held up by a navigation bother 156km into the special stage, which worth around half of an hour, sooner than having frustrations compounded by a puncture.
An aggravated Sainz felt his day had been right as a lot as the navigation area and accepts the time deficit is an mammoth blow to his victory hopes.
“It used to be a reasonably advanced day,” he acknowledged. “It used to be a pity due to we ranking been doing correctly. But it’s essential to always set together the total dots in yelp that it is possible you’ll possibly additionally fabricate a reliable stage. The difficulty currently used to be the navigation.
“We ranking been caught on a level. We validated first skill level. We thought we had lost other skill parts and we ranking been roughly confused also due to we ranking been pondering to be on one other skill level of the roadbook. The reality is that the misfortune used to be no longer so certain.”
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Co-driver Cruz defined they’d to make a U-flip to double back on themselves: “We ranking been heading in the correct path and there used to be a metamorphosis in fact, we modified into reasonably of to the left with such depraved luck that we missed the next level we needed to validate.
“From that level on I did no longer realize something else, I did no longer know the set I was, so we started to practice our traces to check out to re-discover ourselves. And after we realized what the error used to be, we went back, validated the old level and persisted.”
After Tuesday’s stage, three-time Dakar winner Sainz has dropped the full formulation down to fourth spot overall and concedes he could possibly possibly ranking problems to hit these ahead of him to come again into the victory hunt this year, despite aloof having 9 phases to head.
“Taking a ranking a examine the shuffle, convalescing half of an hour is relatively advanced,” he added. “From our side, [we must get our] head down and whisk. As for the strategy, the shuffle is aloof long and we ranking to head attempting what occurs to the others, due to in any other case it is possible you’ll possibly possibly no longer recuperate this form of in fact necessary gap.
“However the Dakar is admire this, every thing can happen till the last kilometre. Now we can most productive whisk ahead and seek.”
Further reporting by Sergio Lillo