KUWAIT: The best rally-raid racers on the planet are coming to Spain to compete in the brand-new Andalucia Rally. There's a host of Dakar Rally champions in the pack as well as some intriguing rookies to keep an eye on when five days of off-road action get underway tomorrow. Expect a heavyweight tussle in the car category as Carlos Sainz (ESP), Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) and Stephane Peterhansel (FRA) engage in battle. This trio have won the Dakar a staggering 19 times between them as well as picking up a host of other honors, including WRC titles and Olympic medals!

"Despite the difficult time we were able to find some areas that we could improve on. The team has done a great job and I think we have become even better." - Carlos Sainz. Reigning Dakar champion Sainz will be at the wheel of a MINI John Cooper Works Buggy while Peterhansel takes control of the 4x4 MINI Rally which he drove to victory at last month's Baja Poland. Al-Attiyah will continue with the Toyota Hilux he has been helping to develop over the past seasons and brought to victory at the 2019 Dakar.

"It's always great to test ourselves against our Dakar rivals. Our target is to go fast and to win this race." - Nasser Al-Attiyah. There has been plenty of time for reflection for the Red Bull KTM Factory Team after they missed out on victory at the Dakar earlier this year, ending an unprecedented winning streak stretching back nearly two decades. The team take their place in the bike race at the Andaluc?a Rally with a firm focus on getting back to winning ways.

"I'm really thankful that the organizers have managed to arrange this rally in Spain, and we get to go racing again. After all, it's what we love to do!" - Toby Price. Former Dakar champions Toby Price (AUS), Sam Sunderland (GBR) and Matthias Walkner (AUT) will all saddle up for the Red Bull KTM Factory Team in Spain. Also along for his first ride as part of the all-conquering KTM team will be new recruit Daniel Sanders (AUS).

"Testing has been going well and the bike is feeling good, so now hopefully a good result in Andaluc?a and then concentrate on Dakar." - Matthias Walkner. Racing in her homeland will be Laia Sanz (ESP) with a GasGas bike while CS Santosh (IND) will be onboard Hero hardware for the 1,354-kilometre rally in southern Spain. "Coming out of the last Dakar I had two broken ligaments in my hand and these injuries take a long time to recover from. To be coming back now after a long recovery and everything else that has been happening feels good." - Laia Sanz

In the side-by-side (SxS) contest there's another chance to catch the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team in action. After setting the fastest time on six of the 12 SxS stages at the last Dakar, there's a solid platform in place for the drivers and their OT3 machines to kick on from. Mitch Guthrie Jr (USA) is back behind the wheel of his OT3 by Overdrive while Seth Quintero (USA) who just turned 18 last month and rallycross sensation Kevin Hansen (SWE) are both getting their first drive in Andalucia. 2019 Nitro Rally Cross winner Kevin will be standing-in for Blade Hildebrand (USA) while the American racer sits this one out to recover from his unlucky accident at Baja 500. "I'm going to come out swinging. We've been testing beforehand and I'm super happy with the car and very proud of the team." - Seth Quintero

All racers and all teams are targeting the Andalucia Rally as the key piece of preparation ahead of the 2021 Dakar in Saudi Arabia. In what has been a stop-start year for the competitors, now is the time for the best of the best to show that they have lost none of their speed. Keep up-to-date with the entire Red Bull Desert Wings convoy on Red Bull Motorsports' social media: Red Bull Motorsport Instagram / Facebook/Twitter/Desert Wings Instagram. You're receiving this newsletter because you're subscribed to the Red Bull Desert Wings newsletter, our distribution service for inside stories covering our Red Bull rally-raid athletes.