At 32 years old, Lucas Moraes is still quite young compared to the drivers with whom he shared the podium of the Dakar rally in the car category. Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (now five-time champion) is 52 years old. Frenchman Sébastien Loeb, in second place and owner of nine world rally titles, has 48. How far can the first Brazilian in the top 3 of the main category of the most challenging race of the sport reach? “I think that my age helps a lot to learn. We managed to use the strategy in our favor, learn a lot in the first week and look for a relevant result in the second. I hope to have another 20 years of Dakar [risos]”, said the man from São Paulo, in an interview to Agência Brasil this Thursday (19th), in São Paulo. Car piloted by Lucas Moraes from São Paulo, alongside German navigator Timo Gottschalk, crosses the Saudi Arabian desert, one of the stretches of the route 8,500 kilometers of the Dakar Rally – Magnus Torquato/Fotop/Rights Reserved Before Lucas’ third place, the best performance by a Brazilian in the category was Klever Kolberg’s, in 2002. Alongside French navigator Pascal Larroque, the Gaucho finished the race in eighth position. “It’s still falling [a ficha]. It was an honor to represent Brazil in the Dakar, to achieve an unprecedented result. I knew I had a good condition, despite being the debut, but [o resultado] it was above expectations”, recognized the pilot. Lucas’ result in the Saudi Arabian desert is surprising not only because of his age, but because it was his debut in the Dakar. The performance surpassed, for example, that of Al-Attiyah and Loeb themselves in the first time that both competed in the race. experienced navigator Timo Gottschalk. The 48-year-old German was Dakar champion alongside Al-Attiyah in 2011, the year of the Qatari driver’s first title. “Racing with Timo was very important because, in decisive moments, his experience it made a difference, especially on the second day. There were a lot of stones, the pointers punctured many tires. He said to go easy, save the wheels. Said and done: many pointers lost more than an hour waiting for support because the steppes ran out”, recalled Lucas. The German navigator Timo Gottschalk (left) and the Brazilian Lucas Moraes (driver) celebrate the third position in the car category of this year’s Dakar rally – Press Release/Red Bull “I thought there [segundo dia] the rally would be over. We punctured a tire with 15 kilometers and had a spare tire for the other 415 [quilômetros]. I learned something every day. In the desert, any mistake catches you and throws your race away”, he added. The participation of the São Paulo native started with a 12th place in the first of the 14 stages of the Dakar. The regularity made Lucas gain the third position on the sixth day, never to leave the podium. He even took second place in the second half of the race, but was overtaken by Loeb, after the Frenchman won six of the last seven stages. “Our first objective was to finish the race, gain experience, to seek results from 2024, but we were gaining speed, understanding the pace of the pointers. Finishing in the top 15 would be an incredible bonus. From the tenth day, we felt that we could do it. bring the podium,” he said. Lucas season is just getting started. This year, he intends to compete in stages of the World Championship of the modality and seek the third championship of the Rally dos Sertões, in August, alongside navigator Kaique Bentivoglio, with whom he raced in the 2019 and 2022 conquests. evolution work, even for him to learn navigation in the desert. Who knows, we can be together [no Dakar] in 2024″, concluded the pilot. The Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah (left), who won his fifth championship this year in the Dakar rally, celebrates the triumph with Lucas Moraes, from São Paulo, third place – Publicity/Red Bull Brazilian performance Lucas, ten other Brazilians competed in this year’s edition of the Dakar, the 45th in history. Bozzano and Cadu Sachs were in 32nd place, two places ahead of Ênio Bozzano (Pâmela’s husband) and Luciano Gomes. It was the third time that Gustavo won the Dakar. , in the English translation). In 2018, he won alongside fellow Brazilian Reinaldo Varela. Last year, he had Jones as a partner. Among the UTVs, Bruno Conti was the best Brazilian, coming in sixth, in partnership with m the Portuguese Bianchi Prata. Rodrigo Luppi and Maykel Justo were in 29th place, while Cristiano Batista and Spanish navigator Fausto Mora finished in 32nd place. In the quads category, Marcelo Medeiros was in ninth place.
Agência Brasil
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