Austin Jones: "This is what we've trained for for three years"

Dakar 2022 | Stage 12 | YANBU > YANBU
January 14 ^th 2022 - 21:30 [GMT + 3]

After several bouts of bad luck, fortune was again a factor as Austin Jones started the stage this morning. He finally managed to exorcise the demons of the past and win his first Dakar.

"I told you that would happen, that it was going to come down to the very end, and that's exactly what it did. We had a pretty clean day today, I drove as hard as I could, we got a couple of mistakes here and there, but overall, obviously we got it done and we made it. This is crazy. Shout out to my navigator Gustavo Gugelmin, who for 13 days straight has been great. The whole team, South Racing, Scott… it takes the whole team.

I'm sorry, I don't know what to say, I feel crazy. We knew we had a 1'41" gap coming in this morning. The liaison helped to relax. I just knew what we had to do, we had a goal, and we went for it. It means everything, this is what we've trained for for three years now, it's the goal any every rally race. To get it done on the last day like this is a perfect ending to a really great story!"