Dakar 2024, Stage 1 – Big first for Guillaume de Mévius! Loeb, Al-Attiyah and Peterhansel left behind

Dakar 2024 – Stage 1 and provisional general classification

• never one Dakar Rally had never started with such a long special! The first stage contested this Saturday January 6 between Al-Ula and Al Henakiya (Saudi Arabia) consisted of 414 km of completely new route. It’s an understatement to say that big gaps have been widened!
• The competitors suffered a one-hour setback linked to theaccident involving a spectator and Lionel Baud (Toyota), 200 meters after the start. The race was interrupted while emergency services intervened and the injured man was evacuated to the nearest hospital.
• Once the Dakar restarts, the Audi RS Q e-tron E2 hybrids of Mattias Ekström-Emil Bergkvist and Carlos Sainz-Lucas Cruz took the lead. The Swedish crew performed the best sections on stony ground before drastically reducing their pace, possibly due to several punctures.
• Starting at the heart of the peloton because of a failed Prologue, Carlos Sainz was in no way bothered by the cars in front of him. The Spanish veteran (61 years old) made the big attack (1st at km 281), but got lost at the end of the course. His 43rd stage victory on a Dakar will wait a little longer.
• Saturday was rookie day. For his first Dakar in the T1+ class, Guillaume de Mévius (Overdrive Toyota), assisted by experienced co-driver Xavier Panseri, achieved a real feat. The 29-year-old Belgian drove his Hilux T1+ without straining too much, constantly finishing in the top 3 during each intermediate stage. 3rd in the Dakar 2023 in T3, the son of Grégoire de Mévius wins his very first special victory on the Dakar!
• Another Toyota revealed itself on this stage. This is the 4x4 owned by South African Guy Botterill, navigated by Brett Cummings. The former pilot of rally was on the heels of Mévius 30 km from the goal (1 minute late) but stopped following a problem with his car.
• Very good mention for Romain Dumas and Max Delfino (Toyota). The French crew achieved a major performance with a Toyota entered by the Swiss Rebellion team: 4th, ahead of a whole bunch of factory machines!
• Another French duo, Mathieu Serradori and Loïc Minaudier (SRT) finished first in the two-wheel drive ranking (6th).
• On the side of the big stars, Sébastien Loeb and Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive) go back to back. The Alsatian finished just two minutes ahead of the outgoing winner. Both are nevertheless relegated more than 20 minutes from the winner of the day! Sébastien Loeb stopped for around ten minutes for a mechanics session.
• It’s even worse for Stéphane Peterhansel-Édouard Boulanger (Audi). “Monsieur Dakar”, forced to open the special after the morning interruption, had a bad day. Even once overtaken by other 4x4s, the Frenchman did not increase his speed. He finishes more than half an hour late!