Paraguayan driver Nelson Sanabria, known as the “León Guaraní”, is seeking to be a legend in one of the sports considered to be the toughest and most famous in the world, the Dakar.
Nelson Augusto Sanabria Galeano is a Paraguayan quad rider who started motorsports at the age of 8. In 2014 he became the South American champion of the Quads category and entered the Dakar, participating and completing all the editions until 2019, finishing 12th in 2014, 4th in 2015, 7th in 2016, 8th in 2017, 7th in 2018 and 11th in ° in 2019.
Nelson practices daily for about 12 hours in a circuit located 70 km from Asunción. He combines various disciplines such as trail running, mountain biking, road cycling, quad enduro and motorcycle hard enduro.
The Paraguayan pilot commented that the organization did not consider it an abandonment in the Dakar 2022. “Within everything in sports and personally I am still undefeated, since they put me on voluntary retirement, but lately it is becoming very complicated for South America to race in the Dakar de Arabia, because things take a long time to return, mine only arrived in Paraguay 20 days ago, my quasi, my spare parts, logistics take a long time in South America.
“80% of the event is European, South Americans are no longer needed as much because they no longer run here, in the same way I am always present, but for those of us who go from this part of the world to the competition, it is really a Odyssey. All the unnecessary expenses are a bit disappointing, the organization takes care of the closest port, which in this case is Buenos Aires-Arabia and then Arabia-Buenos Aires, but they did some procedures that generated costs because the borders were closed at that time, they had to take my things to Argentina and then bring them back to the country, it seems so simple and easy but it is not like that”, explained Sanabria.
Nelson Augusto Sanabria, has several brands and entities that always accompany him that make it possible for the pilot to be present in this competition every year. “In the beginning, when no one understood what I wanted to do, I had to cover my costs at 90%, that was more or less from 2012 to 2014. Since 2015 I am practically a professional pilot, I fight a lot, I have to move a lot outside of the competition, on a day-to-day basis to be able to achieve that.”
Speed and racing are like a family sport for the Sanabria, Don Nelson, who is currently 75 years old, champion of the 1988 Chaco Rally, was the one who instilled in his children to get involved in this world. “Since we were little, we have incorporated motor sport into our being, and my older brothers also got into it. It took me like a dream to participate in the Dakar, as I always understood everything that this sport was, I always watched it on TV, it was that childhood dream”.
“The continuity that has been achieved so far is a record, there are eight editions, I am two away from being a legend. Focus, concentration, training, that the dream is always present. You prepare all year for the Dakar because it’s not a race, it’s the race. The other competitions that one can run along the way can be used according to the pilot, if he associates it, it can work as training. At the time in the previous one, before running the first Dakar, we participated in everything there was, there were official South American events, now that they have left South America we don’t have official Cross Country events”, detailed the South American champion.
Since 2015, when Nelson Sanabria has been seeking to win the Dakar, “we managed to win stages, we became South American champions at the time that everyone was running, Dakar Series championships that gave us the direct pass to the Dakar at that time, we achieved many things, we ran the Argentine championship, We fought for the lead, that helped us a lot as preparation. Speaking of the present, the last Dakar I went to was this year, so we also have current issues”.
“I hope to be able to be present in 2023, times are difficult, we are in June and things arrived 20 days ago, I will do everything possible to compete again, if I do not succeed, I will take a year as I did in 2021. Sabbatical in quotation marks, which I actually use to gain strength and thus be present with more power in 2024. We will always be running, I am still in force, I am not retired”, said the León Guaraní.
Former pilot Nelson Sanabria Sr. always accompanied Nelson Augusto in all his competitions. “He was always my mechanic as well as being my father and my friend, I saw him very motivated in the run-up to this Dakar, in recent years I had the options of choosing my mechanics who were always rotating, I have two Cordovans who accompanied me to the competition. In 2020, which was also in Arabia, Gastón Mattarucco accompanied me, and this year it occurred to me that it was time, that I was going to win this event and my dad will be by my side, it was my dream, but accidents happen, he slipped from a truck, he broke his leg, it looks like something out of a movie but accidents are like that”.
“Rafal Sonik, a Pole, at 49 years old won his first Dakar almost, it was a super competitive division and he won from end to end in 2015, so I think that until I am 45 or 40 I will continue racing. You have to become a legend, there are two years to go and from then on we’ll see what to do”. sentenced Nelson Sanabria.
