Manuel Andújar: “It's really emotional”

Dakar 2021 | Stage 12 | Yanbu > Jeddah
January 15 ^th 2021 - 14:01 [GMT + 3]

Although he was participating in only his fourth Dakar, Manuel Andújar triumphed in Jeddah ahead of Giovanni Enrico and Pablo Copetti. Alongside bike category winner Kevin Benavides, the two Argentinean riders have well and truly left their mark on the 2021 edition of the rally.

“It’s my fourth Dakar and my first win. I’m really happy to be here. It's really emotional too. I appreciate all the people that have helped me get to where I am today. The whole Dakar is difficult. My hands and everything, my whole body is really tired. But I’ve finished and I’m in first place and I’m very happy. I started to think I would win the Dakar four years ago. I started to think that on my first Dakar, but I had a lot of problems. This is the one race where I haven’t had problems. My family have given me lots of support and I am really happy now. I don’t know during the race when I thought I would win, maybe the start because it was the plan in the beginning to win the Dakar. I arrived here with that expectation. I really don’t know where I got the lead, but I think yesterday when I had a bit of a bigger gap, that's when I said okay, I am going to win. But you never really know until you have crossed the finishing line. I really don't know my plans for next year. I just want to go back to my home town and rest there with my friends and family”.