Sport

Carlos Sainz: "This sport reminds you from time to time of the risk involved"

Madrid, Sep 29 (EFE) .- (Camera: Tato Pérez) .- Carlos Sainz, double world rally champion, is immersed in the preparation of the "beautiful" challenge of participating in the next Dakar with an Audi car It has an innovative electric propulsion system.Carlos Sainz (Madrid, 1962) has won the World Rally Championship twice (1990, 1992), has celebrated three victories in the Dakar Rally (2010, 2018 and 2020) and has countless victories in races around the world.Veterancy is a degree and, as he has not lost his enthusiasm, he recognizes that he is at a point in his sporting career in which he wants to continue enjoying rally racing, his passion and his life.The challenge of the next Dakar will be driving an Audi, which faces one of the great challenges of the motor world by competing for the first time in the desert with the innovative RS Qe-tron, which combines the electric propulsion system with a converter that recharges. the high-voltage battery while driving.Q: How do you feel about the car?A: As the car is so different, the sensations are different. It is an electric, hybrid car. It has the front, rear and combustion engine that recharges the electric batteries. It is a complex, difficult, exciting and beautiful process to participate in it. It is the most complicated project of which I have been involved when racing a Dakar.Q: Is it very difficult to drive a car like this or do you not find it so difficult?A: Piloting it is not difficult. We are in the process of fine-tuning the car at the suspension level, but also at the level of putting the two engines together and the braking on point, which is done with electric motors while energy is recovered. There is a center differential that does not have a joint between the front and rear axle.It is a very important challenge for all Audi engineers to run such a car, with four engines that it has, two electric, plus the combustion engine and the generator that makes electricity. It seems complicated to me and all that has to be autonomous. Imagining jumping for weeks with the amount of sensors makes it a very difficult challenge.Q: Is it possible to see you on the podium at the next Dakar?A: It is too early to say. Sooner or later it is going to be competitive. It probably already is, but the car has to be reliable, but not for a few days, but for two weeks. The challenge for Audi and any brand is to make a 100% reliable car the first year and that is the difficult part.Q: Is there anything that particularly surprised you?A: Driving an electric car in the desert has its advantages. There is no gear change, you always have power, there is no response time, the engine brake works very well. In short, the center of gravity is very low. There are many positives that make the car competitive and reliability is as important as competitiveness.Q: The team for next season is luxuriousA: There is a great team. Stéphane Peterhansel and I have gotten together once again, with the help of the Swedish Mattias Ekström, a very competitive driver with a lot of experience in other types of competitions. Audi is always committed to great challenges, such as four-wheel drive in rallies, and now wants to be the first to win with an electric motorization. You told me this a couple of years ago and it would be impossible. It's a nice challenge and I feel like doing it at this point in my career.Q: How is your day-to-day preparation?A: Since September the physical part is fundamental. The more veteran you are, the more you have to take care of yourself so as not to suffer because this race and the car are also very demanding. It is a challenge for everyone, mechanics, the car itself and for the drivers.Q: Is that physical part the hardest?A: The physical part costs as the years go by but I know myself well, I have a good team behind me and I try to do my best.Q: Next will be your 15th Dakar. What is special about this race?A: From day one I was attracted to it. It is a race that is a strong, important, physical and mental challenge. It is a team challenge that many people have to push in the same direction. It requires a year-long preparation because if you miss the opportunity, the next one takes twelve months to arrive. If you like it and have run it, you realize that something so special that puts you so much to the limit has its appeal and has compensated me for all these years.Q: When you see your son succeed in Formula One, what do you feel?A: When things go well for him, I'm happy for him and I'm happy and proud, but when things don't go the way he wants I also worry. Like any parent.Q: Do you ask for advice?A: We exchange impressions. Every day at night we talk because now I hardly accompany him anymore. He is passionate about racing, like me, and it is normal that between father and son we comment more.Q: Can you imagine ever winning the Formula One World Championship?A: That is the wish. His first and then all of us. He is a rider who will continue to surprise, he will continue to improve and I have a lot of confidence in him.Q: When you retire, how would you like to be remembered?A: First as a good guy, which is the most important thing, that they think it was worth it. And, as an athlete, a person who came to rallies and something changed. I am especially excited to be the first non-Nordic to win a Thousand Lakes or to win in rallies like Sweden or Finland, which Latin drivers did not even imagine going to. Also as someone who helped make the world of rally more beautiful and more professional. I have great affection for all the teams. It has been my passion, my life and I am sure that rallies have given me more than the other way around, because they have given me everything.Q: Do you still feel pressure when competing?A: Not at this point in the movie. When the race comes, you feel pressure because you can't think that a team like Audi is going to sign me, a veteran driver, without having the goal of winning. The pressure to win is there but I am confident that I will be able to give a victory.Q: We recently saw a new accident in a rally that caused fatalities. What do you say to those young people who ask for advice at home about a risky sport?A: It is clear that motor sport, in general, is risky, as well as others, but it is a beautiful sport, in which safety measures are getting better and better. We riders think that nothing is going to happen to us because otherwise no one would race, but this sport from time to time reminds you that there is risk and things can happen. This weekend was tragic and it reminds us that racing can be dangerous but if you like it, you have the passion and you know it, you have to try to run with sense and respect the safety rules. TOTALS FROM PILOT CARLOS SAINZ IN EFE INTERVIEW.AUDI CAR PRESENTATION IMAGES FOR THE NEXT DAKAR.