Tosha Schareina is one of the pilots who will attack the edition of Dakar that will start on January 5th. Considered by many as one of Joan Barreda’s successors, the pilot from Valencia detailed what he expects to do in the Saudi desert.
‘I believe I am going through my best moment. The team is getting great results. I believe we are in a phase with very good results, but now comes the toughest race of the year and anything can happen. The Dakar is a very long race and it seems that this edition in Saudi Arabia will be even longer. In other words, anything can happen, but I believe we will be very well prepared,’ said the pilot, who will be riding an official Honda.
‘When you have all the necessary ingredients and you have all the tools to do things, there is chemistry. I believe everything has been done for a long time, the result of the work of many people, including mine, of course, and now little by little it is bearing fruit. The truth is that the bike is very good, but it is also the merit of the whole team, which makes you not have to worry about anything else when you have to get on the bike. I think that also makes a difference. With GasGas, I also had an incredible structure, with all the support from Aspar, but the truth is that Aspar comes from the world of speed, of racing, and it is a completely different world. The negotiation with Honda was quite long, it lasted for months and in the end I received a call from Rúben Faria, who is the team manager, and he gave me this opportunity. It was incredible and he trusted me from the beginning to the end with his eyes closed,’ he explained.
Schareina a été également interrogé sur le fait d’être l’un des successeurs de son compatriote Joan Barreda. ‘Ce n’est pas une pression pour moi, c’est un honneur d’être comparé à Joan Barreda, un pilote exceptionnel, il n’y a qu’un seul Joan. C’est le pilote espagnol avec le plus de victoires, j’apprends beaucoup de lui, ainsi que des autres pilotes’.
— C’est une moto incroyable. Il me semble qu’ils ont mis trois ans à la développer, tant au niveau du châssis, de l’inclinaison que du moteur. Je pense que tous les pilotes se sentent très préparés et veulent tous être au sommet. Je vais continuer avec ma mentalité, mon style, garder la tête froide, être régulier, faire de bonnes étapes, à partir de là, on ne sait jamais. Comme on le sait, le Dakar est une course folle, avec de nombreux jours. Nous savons que ce sera une édition très difficile, mais je suis très bien préparé, mieux que jamais. Maintenant, c’est le moment où nous devrons vraiment surpasser la concurrence. Je peux rêver de remporter cette édition du Dakar‘, a-t-il conclu.
