Sainz predicts 'weird' tactical battle in Dakar Rally

Carlos Sainz senior believes that “tactics will be more important than ever” on this yr's edition of the Dakar Rally.

After taking his fourth victory in the long-lasting rally with Audi last yr, the Spaniard has switched allegiance to Ford this season because the brand launches the brand new Raptor developed in partnership with M-Sport.

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This yr's event, held within the dunes of Saudi Arabia, begins on Friday with the Prologue stage, after which the actual a part of the rally begins on Saturday.

You can gain time by driving on already packed sand, which just isn’t possible if the motive force is the primary on the scene. With this in mind, Sainz expects some strange things to occur ahead of the special stages.

“I think that in this Dakar, tactics will be more important than ever,” he said.

“Last yr we showed how vital the tactics and strategy of not opening the track for a 48-hour stage are, and this yr there will likely be five special stages with no bikes on the front. [because of their different routes].

“That's why I think we'll have a fairly tactical Dakar and that on the first day we might see things that will be a bit strange.”

The Raptor's Dakar debut follows its maiden competitive appearance on the Rallye du Maroc in October, which marked the resumption of Sainz's long association with M-Sport.

Carlos Sainz and Ford Raptor T1+

Photo: Ford

Two-time world rally champion Sainz drove twice for each Fords and a second time for Toyota, between 1996-97 and 2000-02, and won five WRC rallies.

“We have to wait and see how we do in this race,” Sainz said. “It's true that the debut within the Rally of Morocco was positive, but we’ve got to attend a bit.

“[M-Sport boss] For Malcolm Wilson, who I already knew, it was a little bit of a homecoming and there have been no surprises in that respect.

“We have worked well all year and we will have to wait and see what the start of the race brings.”

Sainz predicts that the hardest test will are available in the second stage, covering almost 1,000 kilometers to cover on January 5-6.

“In the 48-hour stage, something will happen, 100%,” Sainz said.

“You don’t have any support, you’ve gotten nobody and that’s the reason it’s so vital to cover the kilometers with none problems and, above all, to succeed in the primary part and the top of the special stage with none problems, because you realize that you’ll don’t have any mechanics, that you simply will likely be alone and crucial thing is, to get through this.

“Also, it's very early in the race and when you have a new project like ours, you might be leaving with a little more trepidation.”

Sainz will likely be joined within the Ford team within the Dakar by former Audi driver Mattias Ekstrom and 2014 winner Nani Roma.