“I'm not going to have fun, I'm going to win”

Manuel Andujar set off on the 2022 Dakar, determined to retain his crown in the quad category. He was riding a fantastic rally, with three stage victories and a podium position. But on stage six, he had a serious accident at km 10 of the special and had to retire. The champion from Lobos confesses he was furious. And he took advantage of the entire 2022 season to turn that anger into learning and to come back stronger as a team. Once again, the Rally of Morocco - the site of his first rally raid - was the high point of the year when he won with a rented quad. Looking back over his racing career, Manuel Andújar started out in quad-cross when he was 18, competing in the USA and Argentina for three years. Later, he was looking for new challenges and decided to have a go at rallying. He knew he had the pace and speed, but he had to learn to master navigation. He made his debut in the 2018 Dakar in 29th place, and just one year later, he finished fifth. He finished fourth in the 2020 edition and was close to a podium result in the sands of Saudi Arabia. With great determination, dedicating many hours to working on the road book and psychological preparation, he took on the 2021 Dakar. He took the overall lead on stage seven and dedicated himself to holding off Giovanni Enrico to secure the victory. Manuel shed tears on the final ramp and received the Touareg wrapped in the colours of the Argentinean flag and the club of his love Boca Juniors. In 2021, "Manu" won almost everything he raced - 3 victories and a P3 - and was crowned World Champion in the quad category, ahead of the ageless Rafal Sonik. However, the glory of the Dakar doesn't seem to have changed the life of this mild-mannered rider, who continues to support Boca every Sunday and spend time with his donkey Ofelia, his dog Dakar. He is now spearheading an awareness campaign for the use of helmets among motorcyclists in his city. While other riders of his level have transitioned to the SSV, Manu says that his thing is the quad, but he is not ruling out the possibility of getting into the car as a navigator of an official team in the future. Manuel is excited about the 2023 calendar, which includes two events in America. He guarantees he will be a contender in the W2RC.

M.A.: “After the 2022 Dakar, the truth is that I was furious. I used this year to learn from our mistakes as a team so that we could come back stronger than ever, always trying to improve and learning day by day. Looking back over the season, Morocco was my first rally raid, and I always enjoy going back there. It gave me a very good pre-Dakar feeling. I felt comfortable and got into a good rhythm with a rented quad".
"I have a new team this year, with mechanics that I have selected. We are working hard on all the details of the vehicle and logistics. Objective? It would be a mistake or a lie to say that I want to enjoy myself and finish the Dakar. We have worked very hard to aspire to win! There are factors, like luck and so on, which are out of our control, but we have done our job to be at the sharp end of the order. My rivals? They are all very good and well-prepared. We all want to win, but the toughest rival... is the Dakar itself”.