One afternoon he was in the middle of a field in the province of Corrientes, installing solar-powered pumps, a venture that he carries out together with friends and partners.
He travels around Argentina with his work and alternates the trips with the dedication he puts to the
Volunteer Fire Department
of the Buenos Aires town of Parador Robles.
While working under the Argentine Mesopotamian sun, the cell phone that showed, given the poor signal, incoming call attempts.
Also some message by WhatsApp.
The insistence was for a call as surprising as it was unexpected:
running the Dakar
.
There were barely 45 days left for the start of the great adventure in Saudi Arabia.
"I couldn't believe it," recalled
Augusto Sanz
,
the 27-year-old firefighter
who, while carrying out his work, received such a surprising message that left him immobilized for a long time.
Augusto Sanz in his role as a volunteer firefighter.
“I finished the installation and went to the road, to have a better signal and to be able to talk on the phone.
A friend called me to tell me that he had proposed me to be a navigator in a Side by Sid
e.
Obviously I didn't doubt it”, highlighted Sanz, an Agronomy student.
“Four days later, the Portuguese Ricardo Porem called me to formalize the possibility of being his navigator.
And here I am, ”said a smiling Sanz, who achieved his first victory in a Dakar stage with a
Yamaha
from the powerful German X-Raid team.
It is no coincidence that Sanz was summoned.
He raced the Argentine Cross Country Championship on motorcycles, also the Desafío Ruta 40 and was the Argentine champion of Canam T3.2 in UTV, while he was 5th in the SARR.
“One day I went to the store in my town and there was a sign that they were looking for people to open the Prada Robles detachment.
And there I went.
Since 2015 I have been working in the barracks,” said Sanz, who stresses that the hardest thing is when they come out to rescue in road incidents.
"I feel that I am the representative of the firefighters in this competition," says Augusto Sanz.
“I feel like I am the representative of the firefighters in this competition.
Because I receive messages of support from all my colleagues and from anywhere in the country.
It is impressive how the news was distributed”, Augusto was surprised, who is in contact with a Dutch truck team, which is made up of firefighters from that country.
“I am eternally grateful for all the messages of support. The Dakar generates something incredible”
, said Sanz, who highlighted: “Although I consider myself young, this is a sign for the rest of the young people that I have a passion for something.
Let them pursue dreams, because they are achieved and fulfilled.
His excellent performance in this competition opens the doors for him in the future, since
some big team could summon him to act as a navigator in other competitions
, in addition to the Dakar.
He smiled when he remembered that everything has an end.
The Dakar will end on Sunday and on Monday he will embark for Argentina.
“This Wednesday I enjoyed the victory in the Dakar stage, and next Wednesday I will be installing solar pumps in some field in the country”, she said with a wide smile, fully enjoying what life presents to her.
Shaybah, Saudi Arabia.
Special for Clarion.
look too
Kevin Benavides and the definition of the Dakar: "We are like against France, to penalties"
Dakar 2023: the confessions of the Benavides in the "Empty Quarter", the most inhospitable place on the planet
