Fernando Alonso not ready to win Dakar Rally

Fernando Alonso

Alonso not ready to win Dakar Rally

He's going there for the experience next month.

Matthew Scott

Sunday 8 December 2019 14:30

Fernando Alonso does not believe he has enough experience in rally raid events to challenge for victory in his first effort at the Dakar Rally next month.

The two-time Formula 1 world champion has added a World Endurance Championship crown to his collection, although the Indianapolis 500 still eludes him as he looks to match Graham Hill's unique 'Triple Crown'.

Alonso says his discipline-hopping exertions of recent years is in attempt to be regarded as motorsport's most complete driver, but says victory at the Dakar is not something he is considering in Saudi Arabia.

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"If I go there to enjoy the experience, yes [I am ready]. If I go there to make the most of it, yes. But if I think of it in terms of winning Dakar, I don't feel ready," he said.

"I'm perfectly aware of both my lack of experience. There are races that I attempted, like Indy, or Le Mans or Daytona, I felt quite competitive and that I could good fight for victory. In Dakar I don't think I'm at that level.

"But I will play a different strategy. I will not be the fastest but hopefully I will be in a good position in the end."

Alonso was able to hit the ground running in WEC, winning his first two races for Toyota, including his first tilt at the Le Mans 24 Hours, but he credited teammates Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima for that success.

"They taught me a lot from the first day of testing," Alonso said.

"They knew about the car and you knew about the circuit, and they knew about their approach on long distance races. I was the one always making the mistakes or making the questions.

"It's not that I was happy jumping out of the car, because I always want to drive, but every time that I was jumping out of the car and they were going in, it was less stress for me because I knew they were doing the right things. So it was a lot of trust between us."