Brazilian wins third place in the main rally in the world – News of Brazil
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At age 32, Lucas Moraes he 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 my age helps a lot to learn. We were able to use the strategy to our advantage, learn a lot in the first week and get a relevant result in the second. I hope to have another 20 years of Dakar [risos]”said the man from São Paulo.
Before third place Lucas, the best performance by a Brazilian in the category was that of Klever Kolberg, in 2002. Alongside French navigator Pascal Larroque, the gaucho finished the race in eighth place.
“It is 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.
the result of Lucas in the Saudi Arabian desert surprises not only because of his age, but because it was his Dakar debut. The performance surpassed, for example, that of Al-Attiyah and Loeb themselves in the first time that both competed in the competition. In 2004, Qatar finished in 10th position, while the French ranked ninth in 2016.
One of the Brazilian’s strengths to face the more than 8.5 thousand kilometers of route was the partnership with the experienced navigator Timo Gottschalk. The 48-year-old German was champion of the Dakar alongside Al-Attiyah in 2011, the year of the Qatari driver’s first title.
“Running with Timo was very important because, in decisive moments, his experience made the 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.
“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 evidence away”, completed.
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 onwards, but we were gaining speed, understanding the rhythm of the pointers. Finishing in the top 15 would be an incredible bonus. From the tenth day, we felt that we could bring the podium”said.
the season of Lucas it’s still starting. 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 co-driver Kaique Bentivoglio, with whom he raced in the 2019 and 2022 victories.
“The idea is that Kaique continues to work on his evolution, even for him to learn how to navigate in the desert. Who knows, we can be together [no Dakar] in 2024”concluded the pilot.
Brazilian performance
In addition to Lucas, ten other Brazilians competed in this year’s edition of the Dakar, the 45th in history. The main result was that of the navigator Gustavo Gugelmin, champion in the light prototype dispute, alongside the North American pilot Austin Jones. In the same category, Pâmela Bozzano and Cadu Sachs came in 32nd, two places ahead of Ênio Bozzano (Pâmela’s husband) and Luciano Gomes.
It was the third time that Gustavo won the Dakar. The two previous achievements were in the UTVs (Utility Task Vehicles) category. In 2018, he won alongside fellow Brazilian Reinaldo Varela. Last year, he had Jones as his partner.
Among the UTVs, Bruno Conti was the best Brazilian, coming sixth, in partnership with 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.
Source: Brazil Agency
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