“I want to finish as high as possible”

Argentina’s Juan Cruz Yacopini recently concluded the best season of his career, finishing P3 in the W2RC championship, navigated by Catalan Dani Oliveras Carreras. Juan Cruz acknowledges that his P7 in the 2023 Dakar was a great boost for a successful year, but he adds that the keys were consistency, finishing the races, making few mistakes and having Dani as his navigator. The Mendoza native - who comes from a family connected to motorsport - competed in 2021 and 2022 navigated by his father Alejandro, who had been a driver in the nine Dakars. Juan Cruz began competing in 2018 in the CaNav and won the T1.1 category in 2019. In February 2020, he won alongside his father the first edition of the SARR. That victory and the support of Toyota Argentina provided the motivation to make it to the start ramp in Jeddah. During the rally, an accident with a truck in stage three forced them to retire, but they continued in Experience category. On their return home, they competed in the 2021 SARR and once again won in the car category. At the international level, in the Kazakhstan Rally they crashed and retired. The Morocco Rally offered them revenge with a place in the top ten. In 2022 they won the SARR in the Autos T1.1 category for the third consecutive year and in addition to participating in the Dakar and Morocco, Juan Cruz also competed in the Baja Aragon and Baja Italia. In 2023, in addition to their participation in the W2RC, they competed in the World Cup for Cross Country Bajas, a discipline that allows them to gain speed and experience in new terrains. This will be Dani Oliveras Carreras' 10th Dakar. The Catalan native says that the years have gone by so quickly, after five years of racing motorcycles and preparing for his 5th participation in cars. Dani looks back and exclaims: "Who would have thought 11 years ago that I would have achieved all those results! I like this sport so much. I like to do things well and I'm very motivated. Not even in my wildest dreams could I have dreamed of all these results." Juan Cruz and Dani aboard the Overdrive Hilux T1+ arrive at this Dakar with a wealth of experience and a symbiotic relationship. Their goal is to finish as high as possible.

J.C.Y.: “In terms of results, positions and how I felt in competition, the 2023 Dakar was the start of the best year of my career. We were frustrated in the 2022 Morocco Rally, where we had a big accident in our debut in T1+ V6 with Dani as co-driver. So, it was a challenge to race with the truck repaired. I had a very enjoyable Dakar with only one mechanical problem in two weeks. The communication with Dani was excellent, and without a doubt, he improved race by race and grew in confidence”.
“I think the Dakar was the catalyst for a good year, but the key was to work hard to finish each rally, have fun, learn little by little, and gain experience. That consistency put me in a good position in the championship. In Abu Dhabi, an all-dunes rally, I was 3rd in cars and 4th overall. In Sonora, I had just lost a friend (Juan Zunino, who died during recon for the Baja500). The first stages were incredibly rapid, and I struggled to keep up. The DR 40 was a great race. I got my first stage win with my family and friends on a day I will never forget. It was spectacular. In Morocco, we were P3 but had a problem and ended up P4.”
“How did I get to the Dakar? After recharging my batteries, I physically trained very well. The Hilux is the same, with some improvements in the suspension. All the competitors asked for a more extreme Dakar, and I hope it will be. I will have more experience. We have to finish the rally as high as possible”.


D.O.C.: “We arrived at the 2023 Dakar with limited mileage, but I noticed that Juan Cruz was a fantastic person and driver, and I was sure we would have a great result. We set out to finish each day, to try to improve in each stage, and we did just that. We pushed harder in the closing stages and finished P7, which is, for us, a superb result. I think we make a great team. We have completed all the rallies this year without any serious problems. The goal was to learn and put in a lot of mileage. Our results reflect the mission accomplished. It's been a tremendous season.”
“Our goal is to finish every day, but it's clear that a fantastic result for us would be to beat last year's P7. There are many experienced drivers, and we can learn from all of them. But with what we have achieved this year, we will attack much more than in 2023. We will do the full W2RC season 2024, so finishing every stage of the Dakar will be essential for the championship. The Dakar is the Dakar, and we will try to finish as high as possible”.