Isidre Esteve: "I have a super car and I leave behind having to invent things"

BARCELONA, 31 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Rally driver Isidre Esteve (Repsol Toyota) claims to have a "super car" in the T1 category Toyota Hilux, with which he leaves behind the stage of "having to invent things" to make his previous cars more competitive, and At that moment, the 2023 Dakar Rally begins with 49 seconds lost after the 13-kilometre prologue stage, where he did not aspire to be much higher either.

"I am lucky to be with the best, with Toyota, Repsol, KH7... It is a project made with great care. I leave behind the cars in which I had to invent things to make them work. Now we are going with a hyper-proven car that It has been seen that it is a super car", he assured in an interview with Europa Press.

Isidre Esteve attends this Dakar 2023 with the intention of improving the 21st position he achieved in South America, which he has not been able to surpass at the moment in the editions of Saudi Arabia. "We want to improve the previous results, those two 21st positions in South America. Now the Dakar is more competitive but so are we. And we must improve those results," he acknowledged.

The Catalan rider comes of age from Dakar, with his 18th participation in the toughest race in the world. "I would like to be 18 years old, but I am 50. I have reached 18 Dakars and I am very proud of those 10 on a motorcycle, of what we achieved, and of what the stage in cars is now. And very proud of this new project , the one we had always dreamed of," he was honest.

"At a sporting level we are in a great moment, with an incredible project that is incredible. We enjoyed a lot in Morocco and Andalusia, with seventh place in Morocco. Things went super well. But in the Dakar there is more participation and more level, and we were left with a lot of confidence," he added.

For the moment, Esteve opened the 2023 Dakar quite well, with a car that will allow him to give up the gas when he needs it and not lose steam for the mere fact, as happened in the past, of not being able to have more power. "The car allows us to go at rates we didn't believe and to places we couldn't go before," he celebrated.

"For the first time, we started the 2023 Dakar with a technical equality compared to other drivers that we had never had. And it motivates us a lot. It's the best car I've ever had, it's been hard to get here but we've made it and now it's time to enjoy it" , assured the one from Oliana.

A dream project, the one he has in the Repsol Toyota Rally Team, which comes to him after "many years of doing things with love". "I have been building projects that we have given a thousand laps to leave everyone satisfied. We have tried to be more competitive every year and give a better image, be happier. And this car and project is the result of this," he celebrated.

That is why he assures, with a smile from ear to ear, that the Dakarian spark is "very much alive" in him. "In my first participation, in 1998, it was incredible on a personal level. A race that has made me grow a lot, and that I enjoy very much. The Dakar has an adventure, improvement, personal challenge component that other competitions do not have", acknowledged.

"I still say 'okay, another year on the Dakar!' It is true that if every time you go you have a better project, it is motivating to go to the Dakar. The difficult thing would be to go backwards. In this 2023 it motivates me to go with an incredible last-generation car, thinking that we will accelerate where the best and not slow down where they accelerate", he pointed out proudly.

Of course, he believes that this Dakar 2023 will be the most complicated of the events in Arabia. "With a part in the 'Empty Quarter' totally deserted. With two more days of racing. It will be much more demanding, but on a physical level I have always trained to the fullest. It will be a mental change of race strategy, we will have to run from the beginning without leaving two hours for a mistake. You have to find a balance and compete against everyone, to the maximum", he pointed out.