Dakar Rally starts Saturday

It all begins tomorrow

The speculation about various competitors' chances of winning the Dakar reached their height and drew to a close at the same time as the second and last day of technical and administrative scrutineering. Tomorrow, the 345 vehicles (this figure remains to be confirmed) will get stuck into the heart of the matter on the tracks of an 11-kilometre prologue before heading to Rosario.

Every year and day is different on the Dakar. During the second day of scrutineering, even the sky in Buenos Aires threw up contrasts as the hours ticked by, with both rain and sunshine beating down on the bonnets of the buggies and 4x4s lined up at the Tecnopolis site. In spite of this meteorologist's headache, one forecast soon and widely emerged before settling: the fight for the title will be intense and relentless, in all the categories of the rally. The X-Raid armada, first to arrive at the waiting enclosure with its 12 minis, immediately adopted an assured tone, in the person of its team leader and title holder, Nasser Al Attiyah. The Qatari, aware of the competition from within his team in the form of Nani Roma and Orlando Terranova, knows his strengths and the respect that he inspires, following, "an exceptional season in which I've raced a lot with Matthieu Baumel and more importantly won several titles on different terrains". Teasing his rivals ever so slightly, the logical favorite also admitted that, "Peugeot have also progressed, but do not seem reliable enough. Anyway, to avoid losing, it's up to us to be smart".

The riposte came soon enough from the target of his gentle mocking. A member of the Peugeot Dream Team and also five times winner in his former Dakar career on a bike, Cyril Despres believes that "the 2008 DKR has made enormous progress," and reckons it could even play a decisive role at the front of the race, in particular through Carlos Sainz and Stephane Peterhansel, the team leaders. The camera flashes especially eclipsed the flashes of lightning in the Argentinean sky when the newcomer to the group, Sebastien Loeb, emerged from his new car to pass on his pre-race views. Remaining cautious, the man from Alsace, who enjoyed most of his successes in the WRC on Argentinean soil, is focused on "enjoying himself" without forgetting that, "the goal is to be competitive". And everyone knows that he knows what he's talking about! Despite the bottle-neck of pretenders to the crown, in the Toyota team neither Giniel De Villiers nor Yazeed Al Rajhi are aiming to play second fiddle to the Minis or Peugeots: their goal is first place.

The situation is even more complex on two wheels, with a whole host of favorites dotting the landscape that has been transformed since the departures from the category of Cyril Despres and Marc Coma. Today, it was the turn of the KTMs with Toby Price, Jordi Viladoms and Mathias Walkner, the Yamahas with Helder Rodrigues and Alessandro Boturi, as well as the Husqvarnas with Pablo Quintanilla and Ruben Faria, to set out their respective strategies. The most discerning analysis of the field probably came from another candidate for victory, Olivier Pain, who roughly evaluated that "thirty riders are capable of finishing in the Top 5. It's my tenth Dakar, and nobody is expecting me to win, so that suits me fine!"

In the quad race, the performances accomplished by the Latin Americans on recent editions give rise to predictions in their favor, even though Rafal Sonik managed to defeat them last year. His predecessor, Ignacio Casale, is back and determined to return to the top, sporting fifteen kilos of extra muscle in relation to last year: "I'm more ready then I've ever been. It will be a Dakar with different stage winners each day. Every last little thing will count… It's really very open!"

The Russian Kamaz drivers, who left their blue trucks in the secure enclosure yesterday, can expect to be harangued by their usual pursuers, who will now be adopting a new formation. Their biggest rival, Gerard De Rooy, the winner in 2012, has lost the support of his cousin Hans Stacey, the winner in 2007, but has achieved the transfer coup of the year by recruiting Ales Loprais, meaning new battle lines are being drawn.

The champagne will have to wait

For the competitors on the Dakar, the goals for 2016 are already in their sights, in particular reaching the finishing line in Rosario after 9,000 kilometers of rallying. Beforehand, they have to undergo the compulsory passage through technical and administrative scrutineering that is taking place at the Tecnopolis exhibition center.

In Buenos Aires, one of traditions on New Year's Eve involves going to the very characteristic Puente de la Mujer to watch the fireworks that light up the sky of Puerto Madero, share a few drinks, kisses and tango steps with strangers, whilst looking toward the year that is about to begin. This plan is most definitely not one that the Argentineans Fernando Bradach and Roberto Corvalan will be following, since their night-time schedule has been totally shaken up by the logical decision of a race official: "Their petrol circuit is not compliant with the safety standards, so they will have to carry out some work on it. We're giving them until the end of scrutineering tomorrow and I think it's possible that they'll manage to fix it". For the vast majority of riders, drivers and co-pilots, the ultimate stresses of preparation have now faded away and the final stamp of validation on their scrutineering forms will allow them a moment of relaxation. However, they will not be overdoing it with the Champagne or Fernet-Cola in light of the copious menu that awaits them over the next two weeks.

Most of the competitors who were present today are merely aiming to reach the finish in Rosario on 16th January, but some have their minds on the title in their category. In the bike race, such was the case for the HRC team's riders, led by the runner-up to Marc Coma last year, Paolo Goncalves, and Joan Barreda, the leading winner of stages currently racing but who has not yet climbed onto the podium on the event. As for the Kamaz truckers, their long-standing chief Vladimir Chagin is used to success (with 12 titles out of 15 for his team in the 21st century!), but is keeping up the suspense whilst counting on an unusual strategy, by focusing on the mountain stages: "The best team in the Bolivian stages will probably pave the way to victory…" Such terrain will probably not be the preferred playground of the Patronelli brothers, who won the competition for most interviews from the Argentinean media, but who are remaining characteristically modest despite the four victories they collected during their dominant period: "We're coming back without any specific goals," suggests Marcos. "I've taken a break from the Dakar and I've only resumed training for it in the last three months".

Tomorrow morning, the camera flashes will be lighting up early on to see the Peugeot team arrive at the Tecnopolis site and especially Sebastien Loeb, whose reconversion after nine world rally champion titles is keenly awaited. Naturally, he will be accompanied by Stephane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz and Cyril Despres, but the favorites in the car category will nevertheless be the Mini drivers, who have won the last four editions. Nasser Al Attiyah is in dazzling form and has no need to envy the serenity of Nani Roma or the big appetite of Orlando Terranova. A consistent player in all the contests, Giniel De Villiers will most certainly provide a measured analysis of the situation. This may not be the same register used by the KTM riders, with Toby Price and Jordi Viladoms, for example, nor by the predicted rivals of the Kamaz team in the truck category, namely Gerard De Rooy and Ales Loprais, brought together as part of the same team for the first time.

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