Henk Lategan (Toyota) first leader at Rally-Raid Portugal

The South African, who finished second in the Dakar Rally earlier this year and is tied in the W2RC World Championship standings behind Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia), set the fastest time on today's stage, a loop around Grândola. Starting ninth on the track, the driver Toyota knew how to take advantage of the traces left by his opponents, without being too disconcerted by the dust.

Nasser Al-Attiyah, who set the fastest time in the Prologue yesterday, was fourth on the track, but lost several minutes in the first part of the special.

Once out of the central road section, the Qatari overtook his rivals to finish second in this first timed section, 1 minute and 38 seconds behind Lategan. Brazilian Lucas Moraes set the third provisional time, also driving a Toyota. Dakar winner Yazeed Al Rajhi, who is making his return to W2RC after a back injury, finished sixth, ahead of Sébastien's Dacia. Loeb.

Opener on this first stage, Carlos Sainz is in tenth place in the standings, having lost more than six minutes to Lategan.

The final stretch, contested on the Prologue course (5 km), did not bring any upheaval to the rankings. Nasser Al-Attiyah, however, received a 2-minute penalty for jumping the start and speeding. He dropped from 2nd place to 5th, but the gaps remained minimal.

The 2nd stage of the Rally-Raid Portugal will take place between Grandola and Badajoz (Spain) over 429 km of timed section.

W2RC – Rally-Raid Portugal
The classification of the first stage and the general classification

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