Nasser raring to go at Dakar
Doha: Qatari ace Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah will be looking for his third victory in Dakar Rally, played out over 9,000km of gruelling terrain which includes criss-crossing the Andes and confronting the unique physical demands of Bolivia's thin air.
The 40th edition of the classic endurance event, the tenth to be held in South America since it was shifted from terror-hit sub-Sahara Africa, starts in the Peruvian capital of Lima on Saturday and ends in Argentina's second city of Cordoba on January 20.
Nasser, who won in 2015 and 2011 has been preparing in Morroco where he recently won the Rallye du Maroc. Accompanied by co-driver Mathieu Baumel, the duo have set their strategy to tackle the obstacles that lie ahead.
“You need to have a good strategy. If we find ourselves good, we’ll try to push. If we don’t, then we’ll try to save everything, the car, our energy, and start the next day from behind to attack and win the stage,” Nasser, who is also an Olympic medal-winning skeet shooter, told Red Bull TV.
“Rally Dakar is one of the toughest Rallies and we will try to win it this year. Dakar 2017 was a very short one for us as we had to pull out after just three days,” said the Team Toyota Gazoo driver.
But the 47-year-old is well aware that he will have to face tough challenge from a host of top-quality drivers including Peugeot’s Stephane Peterhansel, who will be targeting a 14th victory.
“One of the best things about Dakar is the competition. Stephane, Carlos, Sebastian Loeb. Team Mini have a new car, buggies with 4×4. There are a lot of good names, we need to respect everybody,” said Nasser.
Peterhansel has won on four-wheels seven times, including the last two for Peugeot, and scorched to six titles on a motorbike since his event debut in 1988.
The veteran 52-year-old led a podium sweep in the car race for the French manufacturer in 2017 and this year will be favourite again alongside Nasser, teammates Carlos Sainz, a two-time world rally champion and 2010 winner at the Dakar, Cyril Despres and Sebastien Loeb, a nine-time world rally champion.
"Peru is the country that comes closest to Africa, with many dunes and big off-track spaces," said Peterhansel.
"The mix between Peru, Bolivia and Argentina will probably be one of the most beautiful races in South America. They will be special — long and hard."
He added: "We have to get out of Peru well placed. With all the dunes, we must try not to get bogged down. The rally will not be decided before the finish line in Argentina."
Loeb, meanwhile, was runner-up last year, 12 months after finishing ninth on his debut.
The two-week race will also see Portuguese football manager Andre Villas-Boas taking part.
Villas-Boas, who coached Porto, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Zenit St Petersburg and Shanghai SIGP, will drive a Toyota Hilux as he revives a family link — his uncle Pedro Villas-Boas drove in the race in 1982 in a 4×4.
Villas-Boas, 40, said that he had originally thought of riding a motorcycle on the Dakar but then changed his mind after talking to one of the motorbike teams.
"I spoke with my friend Alex Doringer, the manager of the KTM team, who told me that I would still need a full year's preparation to get there and that it was better to consider doing it with a car," Villas-Boas told the Dakar Rally website.
"So I got in touch with Team Overdrive and here I am!"
