Stéphane Peterhansel: "Softly, softly"

Dakar 2022 | Prologue | ALULA > ALULA
January 1 ^st 2022 - 12:00 [GMT + 3]

The defending champion conceded over a minute to the stage winner, Nasser Al-Attiyah, but the result was of secondary importance to the new Audi's Dakar debut.

"At the start of the special, when we saw the countdown, it was quite emotional because we've been working hard for months on end. We approached this special softly, softly. We raced for 20 kilometres and got the race going. We're being very cautious and keeping tabs on all the parameters, but the car feels nice to drive. It's a fun experience and that's very important. It confirms all the data we gleaned from testing. The car is good at going over dunes, which is also great. We wanted to avoid finishing in the top 10 so we didn't have to make a choice, so I went very slowly."