The Peninsula
Defending champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah is confident of winning his fourth title when he competes at the 2020 Dakar Rally set to be held in Saudi Arabia for the first time next month.
The 49-year-old, who has represented Qatar in six Olympic Games, said in an interview racing in Saudi Arabia will be a ‘completely different’ experience but he ‘knows the terrain’ well.
Early this year Saudi Arabia signed a deal that will keep the Dakar Rally on their soil for the next five years.
“I am ready for the Dakar and quite excited. It is going to be completely different,” Al Attaiyah said in an interview.
“I know the terrain very well. I took part in and won races in 2008 and 2011 in this country. I know exactly what to expect,” Al Attaiyah said about his chances at the January 5-17 event.
Al Attiyah, who won the 2012 London Games skeet shooting bronze, two weeks ago bagged the World Sports Legends Award at a special gathering in Monaco for excelling in two disciplines - motor racing and shooting.
With just a week to go before the start of the 2020 Dakar Rally, Al Attiyah is brimming with confidence.
“The dunes are very tricky and totally different than those in South America. It is more like Mauritania. We have the same kind of dunes in Qatar and I grew up driving them with my father,” Al Attiyah added in an interview posted on the Dakar Rally website.
“There are only 110kms between the dunes in Qatar in those in Saudi Arabia. The terrain suits me to a tee. So, yes, I believe that I am the favourite. And it’s not the best car that wins, it’s the best driver,” Al Attiyah added.
When asked about his greatest Dakar Rally win, Al Attiyah said: “My first Dakar win will always be the greatest, but the third victory was special. We dominated from start to finish and to give Toyota its first victory was really special.”
While reviewing is a season, Al Attiyah said: “I had an excellent 2019 season with nine wins from 10 rallies. I only retired in Morocco, but it was actually a good thing we had electric problems that way we could better prepare the car and anticipate other problems for the Dakar. It was also fantastic to race in the Baja 1000, to discover another discipline and the American specialists were thrilled to see us.”
The Dakar Rally will feature 351 entries out of which are 170 motor and quad bikes, 134 cars, and 47 trucks. The rally - set to consist of 12 stages - will cover a total distance of 7,900kms starting from Jeddah and ending near Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.