The 47th edition of the Dakar has set a date for the world's rally-raiders in Saudi Arabia from 3 to 17 January.
More information:
https://www.dakar.com
https://www.facebook.com/Dakar
https://www.twitter.com/Dakar
https://www.instagram.com/DakarRally
#Dakar2025
© Amaury Sport Organisation - https://www.aso.fr
More information:
https://www.dakar.com
https://www.facebook.com/Dakar
https://www.twitter.com/Dakar
https://www.instagram.com/DakarRally
#Dakar2025
© Amaury Sport Organisation - https://www.aso.fr
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SportTranscription
00:00Dakar, 1987, the victory was a bonus, because the real victory was that I was back in life.
00:13When I went to Dakar, you must remember that it was my comeback event after my nearly fatal accident a year and a half earlier in Argentina.
00:22So for me it was first of all when I stood at the start line of Dakar in 87 in January.
00:30I had to really pinch myself, am I here, am I still alive, am I back in this sport I love, which is my life.
00:38In 87, rally star Ari Vatanen made his Dakar debut.
00:42People warned me about it, you know, Ari you must be careful, you know, it's so many traps waiting for you and it's very unpredictable, which is very true.
00:52I don't think it was my fault, I mean it was soft sand and I should have realized that there is some bad bumps.
00:57It was a hard surface and then soft sand and soft sand, you always get bad bumps.
01:02And I wanted to show to people that I have learned something, that I can be wise and mature.
01:08I drove so slowly on the prologue that my teammate Seca Mehta overtook me in that little prologue, because I really drove like a grandma.
01:18Well Vatanen eventually found his speed, but first he had to recover from the psychological trauma of his crash.
01:26My life had restarted after my very nearly fatal accident and after the accident I was in a psychos, I had all kinds of terrible fears.
01:37I mean I saw no light in my life at all, I just saw a black tunnel, not even the ray of light.
01:44And yet on his first appearance the Finn won three stages and the title with Peugeot, who were making their debut as a factory team in Rally Raid.
01:52So when I finally arrived to the famous La Crosse and Rita was waiting, my wife was waiting for me there, I mean it was unreal.
02:00It was unreal the happiness and bearing in mind that I come literally from the black valley of death and there I was in the sunshine in La Crosse having won Dakar.
02:12I mean, I don't know, there are no words to describe how happy I was.