The desert shows its teeth for opening stage of 2022 Dakar Rally
Wild weather descends on Saudi Arabia challenging even the most veteran racers.
It did not take long for the 2022 Dakar Rally to take a serious bite out of its convoy of competitors. On the very first long stage of the rally, there were some serious time losses as the desert dunes showed no mercy. Even those enjoying a clean opening stage remain vigilant of the dangers ahead.
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It’s been an enjoyable return to the deserts of Saudi Arabia so far for three-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT). Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel (FRA) guided their Toyota Hilux T1+ to a stage win on the 334km loop around the Ha’il bivouac. The result follows on from their success in yesterday’s prologue.
“I’m happy with the job that Mathieu and myself did today. I really pushed from beginning to finish. Mathieu’s navigation was great. To finish day one with a good lead is an amazing start, but there’s still so far to go.” – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Sticking close to Al-Attiyah throughout the stage was WRC legend Sébastien Loeb (FRA) in his BRX Prodrive Hunter. Accompanied by co-driver Fabian Lurquin (BEL), Loeb limited his losses to Al-Attiyah on Stage 1 to under 13 minutes.
“It was a long and difficult stage. The navigation was really tricky today. The terrain was rough in places and we had two punctures to deal with. It was a hard stage to get things started.” – Sébastien Loeb
It was a tough introduction to the Dakar for the ambitious Audi Sport project. At the end of the day’s racing, the best placed of their drivers is Mattias Ekström (SWE) who finished over an hour and a half behind Al-Attiyah. Further back on the course was the Audi RS Q e-trons belonging to Carlos Sainz (ESP) and Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA).
It’s been a full-throttle start to the Dakar for Daniel Sanders (AUS) as he set the fastest time for the second day running. The GasGas rider backed up yesterday’s prologue win by leading today’s stage from start to finish. Could last year’s highest placed rookie be chasing an even bigger prize this time around?
“After winning the prologue I started today in 15th. By the refuelling, I was catching guys so I knew I wasn’t going too badly. Then I arrived at a place where a few others had made a mistake. I managed to find the way and hit the next waypoint.” – Daniel Sanders
2018 Dakar winner Matthias Walkner (AUT) is just over 10 minutes back from Sanders and sits third overall in the bike standings after the rally’s opening weekend. Walkner is the best placed Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider after Stage 1.
“It was a tricky day for navigation, the rainfall complicated things for sure. It was a tough first stage. I was in a strong group and we came to the finish line together as fast as we could.” – Matthias Walkner
Navigation challenges put a bump in the road for many contenders in the bike race, with former winners such as Toby Price (AUS) and Sam Sunderland (GBR) joining fresh faces such as Camille Chapelière (FRA) in running into trouble.
"It was a bit of a rough one today. There was one note that just didn’t seem to add up properly. I ended up getting lost there for over 45 minutes. It’s not the best way to start the rally but it’s still early days.” – Toby Price
Joining Al-Attiyah and Sanders in backing up a prologue win with a victory on the opening stage is Seth Quintero (USA). The teenager led the T3 category throughout the 334km timed special stage to retain first place in the general classification.
“Stage 1 went really well. My mindset coming into this race was to go slow in the slow and go fast in the fast. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing.” – Seth Quintero
Quintero’s fellow Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team drivers Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP), Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR) and Guillaume De Mevius (BEL) – also made it to the finish line of Stage 1. Applying most pressure to Quintero’s top spot is Chaleco Lopez (CHI) who trails him by less than two minutes.
“It was a complete day at the Dakar. Early on we had to fix an electrical problem in the car. Then things started to get very tricky with the navigation. We found a good way and we have to be content with our work today.” – Chaleco Lopez
It was business as usual in the truck race with Team Kamaz Master dominating on the opening stage. The stage victory was taken by reigning Dakar champion Dmitry Sotnikov (RUS), with team-mate Eduard Nikolaev (RUS) just 30 seconds back in third place. Two more Kamaz drivers – Andrey Karginov (RUS) and Anton Shibalov (RUS) – recorded stage finishes that see them placed in the Top 5 of the general classification.
Tomorrow’s stage takes the Dakar to Al-Artawiyah via 339km of racing against the clock. Among the terrain on the race track will be a chain of sand dunes that will require special attention from all competitors.
QUOTES
Nasser Al-Attiyah: “I’m happy with the job that Mathieu and myself did today. I really pushed from beginning to finish. Mathieu’s navigation was great. Sébastien was behind us all the way so it was never easy. To finish day one with a good lead is an amazing start, but there’s still so far to go.”
Sébastien Loeb: “It was a long and difficult stage. The navigation was really tricky today. The terrain was rough in places and we had two punctures to deal with. It was a hard stage to get things started.”
Giniel de Villiers: “Not an easy stage. Difficult terrain and at km 270 we got lost going too far to the right. We lost 15 minutes there and then we got one puncture coming in. Not a perfect day, but we are here.”
Cyril Despres: “We had two flat tyres in the first 50km. We knew then that it was looking like a tough day for us. We did what we had to do to survive the day and we’ll go again tomorrow.”
Mattias Ekstrom: “This was our first long Dakar stage and early on I was feeling confident in the set-up. The first 150km was smooth. Then we ran into some problems. There was big chaos at one of the waypoints. We ended up missing that waypoint and that will cost us a lot of time. It was a disappointing end to a day that started so well.”
Daniel Sanders: “After winning the prologue I started today in 15th. By the refuelling, I was catching guys so I knew I wasn’t going too badly. I arrived at a place where a few others had made a mistake. I managed to find the way and hit the next waypoint.”
Matthias Walkner: “It was a tricky day for navigation, the rainfall complicated things for sure. It was a tough first stage. I was in a strong group and we came to the finish line together as fast as we could.”
Sam Sunderland: “They definitely threw us in the deep end today! I was going well but then at km 276, I couldn’t find the waypoint. It was the same for all the groups I was with. After that, I just tried to push like hell until the finish to try and recuperate some lost time.”
Toby Price: “It was a bit of a rough one today. There was one note that just didn’t seem to add up properly. I ended up getting lost there for over 45 minutes. It’s not the best way to start the rally but it’s still early days.”
Danilo Petrucci: “I’m really, really happy to finish my first big Dakar stage. There were some big dunes in the final part so I’m happy to have got through them. I have some pain in my ankle but I have finished the day.”
Mohammed Balooshi: “The stage was tough and felt much longer than 334km. On paper, it looked all good, but the reality was something different.”
Camille Chapelière: “Today was a bit complicated. I missed a waypoint so I had to come back and that cost me a lot of time. After that, I really tried to push to recover time and pass some of the guys who had got past me. It was a tough day.”
Mohammed Jaffar: “It was a good start for me. The desert was nice, but after the rain, it was also difficult. There were also some tricky sections in the big rocks, this type of riding is not my speciality.”
Seth Quintero: “Stage 1 went really well. My mindset coming into this race was to go slow in the slow and go fast in the fast. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing.”
Chaleco Lopez: “It was a complete day at the Dakar. Early on we had to fix an electrical problem in the car. Then things started to get very tricky with the navigation. We found a good way and we have to be content with our work today.”
Cristina Gutiérrez: “The navigation was very hard. All the people got lost, everyone turning around, a lot of tracks. It was impossible not to lose more time there. Finally, we could reach the finish of the stage.”
2022 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage 1
CAR RACE TOP 5
1. N. AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) TOYOTA 03:30:53
2. S. LOEB (FRA) BRX +12:44
3. M. PROKOP (CZE) FORD +22:39
4. L. ALVAREZ (ARG) TOYOTA +27:42
5. V. VASILYEV (RUS) MINI +28:58
BIKE RACE TOP 5
1. D. SANDERS (AUS) GAS GAS 04:38:40
2. P. QUINTANILLA (CHL) HONDA +03:07
3. M. WALKNER (AUT) KTM +11:06
4. A. VAN BEVEREN (FRA) YAMAHA +12:46
5. M. KLEIN KTM +14:34
TRUCK RACE TOP 5
1. D. SOTNIKOV (RUS) KAMAZ 04:06:22
2. E. NIKOLAEV (RUS) KAMAZ +00:31
3. A. LOPRAIS (CZE) PRAGA +09:58
4. A. SHIBALOV (RUS) KAMAZ +18:56
5. A. KARGINOV (RUS) KAMAZ +19:12
LIGHTWEIGHT PROTOTYPE (T3) TOP 5
1. S. QUINTERO (USA) OT3 04:21:35
2. F. LOPEZ CONTARDO (CHL) CAN-AM +01:58
3. S. ERIKSSON (SWE) CAN-AM +06:52
4. P. LEBEDEV (RUS) CAN-AM +13:41
5. C. GUTIERREZ (ESP) OT3 +29:54
