Carloz Sainz wins the Sertoes International Rally 2009

Sertoes, July 4, 2009: The 17th edition of Sertões International Rally was the toughest in history. This is the unanimous opinion among pilots and navigators that participated in the competition, between June 23rd and July 3rd. In this scenario the highest position on the podium could not belong to anyone but him: Carlos Sainz, twice speed rally world champion, and perhaps one of the biggest legends of all times. Beside the navigator, the Spanish Lucas Senra, Sainz finished the race with minimal advantage: 1min04s9 ahead of the pair composed by the Qatari pilot Nasser Al-Attiyah and the German Timo Gottschalk – Sainz’s teammates in Volkswagen, and also riding a Touareg Race 2.

Along the ten competition days, Sainz swapped the leadership with the Qatari pilot Nasser Al-Attiyah for four times, and added up a smaller number of victories in the stages (6 x 4). This leadership swapping was partially due to the change of ground faced by the competitors, who had better or worse performance according to their driving characteristics. One of the competition days, the time difference among the two of them was mere 3s9, after more than 3 thousand kilometers raced. The Spanish managed to definitely take the lead only one stage before the last, and finished the competition last Friday (July 3rd) in Natal (RN), with marginal advantage.

“It was an exciting dispute, which lasted until the last stage, and it was a tough fight (with Nasser). Sertões was a real challenge for us pilots and navigators. The specials were long and very demanding, the terrain was extremely varied, and the constant change of the pace on the race demanded total concentration. For my navigator and me it was also a very good test in terms of getting used to work in a race pace. I think we have really achieved this goal. Winning our first rally together against such strong competition in our own team was great (beginning of a partnership)”, said the Sertões Rally new winner, reminding that this was his début with navigator Lucas Senra.

The defeat does not seem to bother the second placer too much: “The Sertões International Rally was my first race with Volkswagen, and I am more than happy with the result”, defined Nasser Al-Attiyah. “I would like to thank my team, for allowing me such a good premiere. Thanks to this team spirit and to my navigator – with whom I got along very well from the very beginning – I think it is also possible to make the victory in the Rally Dakar come true”, finished Al-Attiyah.