Sainz Sr.: It's a miracle the engine held up.

      Today is a rest day at the Dakar rally; crews are regaining strength, and team mechanics are servicing the vehicles that have already endured colossal stresses over the past week. It is also very important to plan and set the tactics for the second half of the supermarathon.

      Carlos Sainz sits fourth in the overall classification, trailing the leader, Nasser Al-Attiyah, by less than 12 minutes. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca he summed up the main results of the first week of the rally-raid and shared his plans for the remaining seven days.

      "I’m very glad I even made it to Riyadh," Carlos admitted. "Today I’m in an even better mood than yesterday because, after analyzing everything and listening to the team’s opinion, I understand: it’s a miracle the engine held up and that I was able to get to the stage finish where they fixed everything for me.

      "The day before I had to drive the last 200 km to the finish almost without a clutch, which had failed, and the oil pressure warning light was constantly on — all of that was very worrying. At one point we almost stopped and were already thinking it was over…

      "But we decided to carry on and see what would happen. In the end we managed to make it to the finish, although, of course, it was nerve‑wracking. Actually, in the past I’ve been in various unpleasant situations, and they were much worse. But right now we’re trailing the leader by 11‑something minutes. That means we have to attack, try to act as correctly as possible, including finding the right rhythm and applying a well‑thought‑out tactic.

      "I agree, Nasser has pulled a bit ahead of me in the overall classification, but judging by how the race is going, anything is still possible. I’m not surprised that he and Sébastien Loeb are going very fast; Al‑Attiyah is the clear favorite. That was clear beforehand, and now, with a week to go until the finish, he sits in first place.

      "Overall I’m happy with how things are going, although I’m somewhat worried about what happened to my car. But the team sorted everything out, and now our Ford Raptor is running normally."

      When Sainz was asked what he would like to wish himself for the second week of Dakar, he was brief: "Fewer punctures…"