After returning to Lithuania, B. Vanagas sends a message: he would like to leave Dakar on such a note that it would be fun
The doctors did not allow B.Vanagas to continue the race during the fourth speed section, when the crew first went down the dune and then hit a rock. On Saturday, the racer returned to Vilnius with the whole team.
At the airport, he talked about wanting to deliver a few messages. The first one is historical: “Yesterday Facebook threw out a reminder, 10 years ago yesterday we started our first Dakar in South America. In other words, the Dakar odyssey began ten years ago.
And what did it turn into? It seems to me that it has turned into something very beautiful, very stubborn, on which considerable attention of the audience is focused, people who are interested in how the Dakar is going.
There are a lot of people who go to Da war. Motor sports are the biggest fundraisers, but Dakar, the most difficult, expensive, etc. race, gets it. It’s an important thing, but it’s just a sport.”
Emphasis on Vyčius
The other two things are more important: “We didn’t finish in this race, but my message is that with certain processes, with certain projects, and especially when it’s not a game in your sandbox, you can fail.” And the biggest question is, do you appreciate failing more, or is it more important not to give up? When you fail, the main question is whether you will get up and move on, or give up that this is not for you.
One of the leaders of the Dakar, who now has serious consequences, Carlos Sainz, who has won so many times, he has not finished five Dakars in a row, the man, he rides with other teams, the biggest budget and certainly one of the biggest professionals. I’m not happy, the team is not happy. We could have avoided it. But if you know where to put your pillow, you might not fall.
And the third and main thing is that when I went to the first Dakar, I had the feeling that we were going there to race a lot and I burned all my fingers as much as I could. I really believed that I would represent Lithuania in the world. That’s very good. But I was looking for a symbol to carry. Vytis is the symbol that was simply beautiful to me. And I didn’t understand what he meant.
During the first Dakar, when death was not far away, and we were tired as I have never been in my life, and we learned a lot, I got to know Vytis very well and discovered him. If you look at how many people discovered Vytis during those ten years, we contributed only a small part to that. As you drive through a neighborhood of private homes, see how much of that symbol you can see. That’s the most important thing for me.”
B.Vanagas also repeated his golden phrase: “Dakar ends, Dakar begins.”
When asked about his well-being, the athlete said that he did not feel anything very bad, although he was somewhat afraid of flying – the doctors had warned that it was not a very good idea, because changes in pressure might make him feel bad. But the flight was good.
Iron patience was required
Was this Dakar more difficult that it was so successful both for the Lithuanians and especially the leader? B.Vanagas says that, you know, it might be easier to talk now, however, he sees that it could have been a successful Dakar if only the railway was needed from the beginning
“This Dakar could have been a successful place to do, although without driving, it’s not really, because there is a lot of good equipment, when we left, Toyota took the first four, although Toyota may not be strong in terms of technical parameters,” said the racer.
Now, he said, the competition is so great that you have to be very fast and take risks: “You have to take risks, but it had to be absolutely iron patience. Now we can see that it would have worked really well.”
And having not covered the entire Dakar, Benediktas says he was surprised that some places were not marked in the road book, although they should have been. something changed in the organizing team and its members had a different approach to the census. As a result, the crews have to adapt.
He says he realized he couldn’t go on when he started feeling sick. It was then that Kuldar Sikkas declared that he was going to look for doctors.
Will still go
B. Vanagas does not say goodbye to Dakar in any way. He already says that he plans to go next year.
“Nothing is over and we are moving on.” A little research now, but it will probably take time.
Inside me, I’m glad there are no questions. We talked a lot with Kuldar, I see him after this race as a really cool equal partner, even considering that he didn’t have much Dakar experience. He sees the kitchen of the most professional teams. (…)
Very likely to see you next year in Dakar. I’m pretty careful, but I wouldn’t be me if we didn’t get along. And if one could ever leave Dakar, it would be on such a fun note,” said B.Vanagas.
The team also plans to compete in the European Cup.