10 Things we learned about Dakar from Seth Quintero

That said, it was just an amazing performance by the kid overall. The bummer is that in Stage 2 he had a mechanical failure which, due to the rules essentially knocked him out of the overall, despite the fact he has dominated and won every single stage except that one.

Going from race to race, Seth is a busy guy. We had a chance to ask him about what it takes to race Dakar.

The Dirt Staff: Let’s talk logistics and what it takes for you to race in Saudi Arabia.

Seth: There’s a huge logistical effort. I mean, obviously we’re transporting four cars from Belgium where our workshop is, all the way to Saudi Arabia. And, really for all the rally raids it’s, it’s a lot of work. I mean, I think we have about 25 people on our team. We have our two big service trucks and yeah, it’s definitely a logistical nightmare trying to travel all the way across Saudi Arabia in 14 days trying to race and plan all that out. And the team does a great job at that, but, yeah, it’s definitely not easy. I mean, considering flights, hotels and everything in between, it’s pretty nuts.

The Dirt Staff: Can you tell us a little more about the costs associated with racing in Dakar?

Seth: I can’t really speak on that too much because fortunately enough I am sponsored. So I do not have to pay to race Dakar. There are some YouTube videos out there, I believe for the dirt bikes to go through and rent a bike and have a mechanic and kind of have the nicer side of things. I believe it’s around 96,000 euros, which is absolutely mind blowing. But I can’t really speak for the cars. I know the SRT team, you can rent the car for Dakar for about $425,000. So, it’s definitely not cheap by any means.

The Dirt Staff: So you guys are racing in the winter, and it looks like it’s pretty chilly out there. Can you tell us a little about the gear and how you prepare for the weather?

Seth: That definitely varies between teams. Unfortunately, we’re just about the only team that doesn’t have a windshield or windows in our car. So, it really depends on how the day’s going. Usually, I’m wearing a pretty-massive jacket and snow gloves and extra pairs of pants because we’re always freezing. But, you know, if you’re in one of the other cars, you’re probably not wearing as much clothes as us, but it’s definitely a little rough because, you know, for the conditions we’re in rain and sometimes you’ll see snow or freezing cold wind or it’s usually not the easiest in Saudi Arabia.

The Dirt Staff: Let’s talk about the terrain and how it compares to what you’re use to racing in the states. How it’s different, how it’s the same?

Seth: The main difference in Saudi Arabia for the terrain and here, they’re honestly pretty similar. The dunes there are about four times the size than any dune we’ll ever see here in Southern California. I mean, you can go up Oldsmobile Hill or you can look at Oldsmobile Hill and then multiply that by four, and those are the dunes that we’re going up and down out there.

There’s a lot more, sharp and staggered rocks out there. So definitely a lot easier to get a flat in Saudi Arabia compared to here. Here there are a lot of loose round rocks.

There it’s a lot of embedded sharp rocks, and then they have camel grass out there which really sucks to hit, they’re sand mounds with little pieces of grass growing out of them. You don’t think anything of it and then you hit it and all the roots of the grass don’t move. So it’s like hitting a rock. And that’s how one of my teammates ended up crashing, by hitting one of those.

The Dirt Staff: How do you stay hydrated?

Seth: We’re always drinking water trying to stay hydrated. We have a 20 minute fuel stop in the middle of the stage, usually depending on how long the stage is.

So we usually hop out, grab a drink of water and do that.

But other than that, we just have a water bottle with a Camelback attachment that we try to drink. I never ended up bringing water when I’m driving, just because I kind of forget about it cause it’s kind of a pain to drink.

The Dirt Staff: So this is one of the longest races around, how do you stay mentally sharp throughout the stages?

Seth: That’s a tough one. The slower you go, for me at least, the harder it is to stay mentally sharp. So, I just try to have a solid, fast pace the whole time, because you’re kind of forced to not make a mistake. 

But yeah, I mean just driving my simulator and just kind of staying active in the racing industry definitely keeps me mentally sharp.

Honestly, what I like to do before any race is take a week or two off so I can kind of relax. It’s not necessarily when I’m in the states.

I just like to take a week or two off before the race, but when I’m traveling outside the states, I’d definitely like to take like a week or two off from working on anything or anything like that. Just kind of hanging out with the family, go ride my BMX bikes, snowboard, do whatever, and just kind of get the mind right. Just get the blood flowing, get to have some fun, and bring the happiness level to an all-time high and then you go out racing and, and you’re ready for it because you’re not already burned out. 

That’s the one thing that I’ve been working on the past year, is not burning myself out and trying to make it more fun and definitely going to be trying to make that a larger point this year.

The Dirt Staff: So let’s talk about differences in racing overseas versus racing in the US.

Seth: Overseas they’re definitely a lot more strict. We go through FIA, and yeah, rules and regulations are… it’s a lot more strict there, especially with their safety. Compared to the US, their safety is on another level. The US is honestly kind of a joke when it comes to safety. Now that I have traveled, outside the states and experienced it all, the US takes safety very lightly. I think that’s one of the biggest differences. 

Obviously logistics are a lot harder. Everything is just kind of a lot different, but one thing I did notice is we have one race a month and we need that whole month to really prepare for it.

Where for rally raid, you only need about a week to prepare for the race just because you’re not beating on equipment as hard. We showed up a week before Dakar and our cars weren’t even close to done, and the mechanics got them done. We went out and raced and killed it. So, there are definitely a little bit of different driving styles and stuff like that, but there are a lot of differences. 

The Dirt Staff: How are the fans and spectators overseas?

Seth: The fans and spectators out overseas are on another level. I mean, it is the coolest thing in the world, driving through small towns and all the kids are coming out waving and you stop and say hi to everybody, or you get to the finish line. And there’s a bunch of people at the finish line. It’s just not something you really see in the states anymore.

I don’t know if it’s what’s going on with spectating in the states, but it’s just kind of dying out. But racing overseas; there are so many people that want to just come up and say congrats and take a picture.

It’s super awesome and that makes racing a lot more fun.

The Dirt Staff: How is the food?

Seth: I usually bring about 25 pounds of food with me, no matter where I go, just because nowhere beats California food. I mean, we’re obviously close to Mexico. You have the best Mexican food here in Southern California. And, yeah, I don’t know you cannot beat California food.

The Dirt Staff: What’s next on the radar for you?

Seth: I will be heading to Abu Dhabi here in a couple of weeks. I’m really just trying to finish out the rest of the season, we’re pretty far behind in points because we didn’t get in the top 10 of Dakar just because we had that one issue in the second stage. So, we had a lot to make up. 

But I never know what’s going on, to be honest, I could be, you know, driving a T1 for half the year, but I won’t know until that time comes, I’m hoping that something like that happens, but yeah, obviously we’ll be racing the best in the desert.

I want to go dabble in some SCORE races if I have time. Maybe some Extreme E stuff that could be in the works. I did the rookie test for X 44 last year and I signed up to be a reserve driver. So maybe I’ll get to hop in for a race or two this year, but yeah, a lot in the works. Just kind of figuring out everything as I go. I’m just trying to have some fun this year.

I’ve been burning myself out the past couple of years. I mean, obviously on social media it looks like everything’s all fine and dandy and all climbing and having a lot of fun, which I am. No complaints here. But it’s definitely been pretty mentally rough. At least the past year has been pretty rough. So, I’m making a point this year to mentally be happy and have a good time and make things easier on myself. Because last year I definitely did not make things easier on myself. I made it all harder. But yeah, my goal for this year is to be a kid again, have some fun and bring back that side of it.

Thanks Seth for your time, you can follow Seth on Instgagram (@sethquintero_103) and Facebook.