Dakar's revelation - Seth Quintero

 This year's Dakar showed the power of the experience (Peterhansel winning his 14th Dakar was just amazing, even with the pressure from Nasir al Attiyah) and also, exposed us to news stars like Cristina Gutierrez and young American - Seth Quintero.

From the start - a young driver was born in 2002, in California. He first rode a quad bike at the age of four and started racing UTVs in 2012. Just two years later he clinched the youth class of the UTV World Championship, at the age of 11. That's when Red Bull noticed him. 

Later he claimed the title in WORCS and moved to the Production level.

In 2019, as a 16-year-old, Seth Quintero won Best in the Dessert series championship for the Pro class (he won five of six events). 

And now, in 2021, he came to Saudi Arabia to race in the legendary Dakar Rally. He became the youngest ever Dakar stage winner by winning stage 2 in the T3 class. He was better than his two teammates - Cristina Gutierrez, who came second, and Mitchell Guthrie who came third. He also won the next stage, from Wadi Ad- Dawasir to Wadi Ad- Dawasir (the loop). 

Seth Quintero also won a few later stages and then, during stage 9, he had a gearbox failure (which was the same problem of Cristina Gutierrez the day before). During stage 11, he showed his great determination by taking an overall stage win.

The young American is a driver to follow and watch because for sure his targets are higher. Who knows, maybe we are looking at a future Dakar winner?