Stage 1 – Sainz-Cruz first leaders of the Dakar, Loeb-Elena clinched

Between Jeddah and Bisha, this Sunday January 3, the competitors of the 42nd Dakar had to cover 277 km of special on sandy terrain then on dirt. A warm-up? No, rather a big piece because of the difficult navigation and the stones placed on the track.

As a result, the first runners all lost time. Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota), winners of the Prologue and whose responsibility was to open the way, lost 9', among other things after a puncture. “We lost a little more time than expected (he was counting on 5'. Editor's note), explained the French co-pilot. But we are in a good position for tomorrow. We will see. »

Discreet in the Prologue, the Mini buggies put on the turbo (diesel) this Sunday. Left extremely far due to a puncture on Saturday, Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz attacked like hell despite the dust. The Spaniards caught up and then overtook a good number of vehicles to keep pace with Stéphane Peterhansel and Édouard Boulanger (Mini).

Slowed down at the penultimate waypoint (km 222), the title holders erased the delay of 3'44'' in 50 kilometers to win by 25''!

For Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena (BRX), the problems started from the first terminals. No, it is not the electronic road book, which worried the Monegasque so much, which was lacking, but rather the mechanics. Two punctures mean many untimely stops to lift and replace the defective tire.

Subsequently, the nine-time world rally champion pair (WRC) conceded another ten minutes to reach almost 24'! A terrible start for a duo who in any case remained cautious about their chances before kick-off...

Ranking 1rd stage:

General ranking after 1rd stage: