RALLY DAKAR 2022

Al-Attiyah takes advantage of 'disaster' by Audi and Sainz and wins first stage on Dakar

Toyota's Nasser Al-Attiyah won this Sunday in the opening stage of the 2022 edition of the Dakar Rally, while Audi faced a disastrous day in Saudi Arabia. For the first half of the 333km stage in Ha'il, the Qatari came under heavy pressure from the three rivals of the German brand, with Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel, the leader among them, just six seconds after the first 120km.

However, the automaker's momentum began to fade on the way to the next benchmark, with the 14-time French Dakar Rally champion becoming the first driver to leave the event after suffering serious damage to his RS Q e-tron in a accident. With the rear axle broken and the left rear suspension taking a major blow, Peterhansel waited more than four hours for assistance trucks to arrive to repair the damage.

Audi's troubles didn't end there, however, as Spaniard Carlos Sainz soon lost more than two hours in pursuit of a tricky checkpoint near the end of the stage, having already fallen six minutes behind the troubled leaders in the middle of the stage. day.

With Mattias Ekstrom also back in the brand's third car as the stage neared its conclusion, Al-Attiyah was able to extend his lead at the front, eventually taking the victory by a smooth margin of 12min44s. Audi's problems have also allowed rally legend Sebastien Loeb to jump into second place in the overall standings. Carlos Sainz provisionally classified in 32nd position, having finished the stage 2 hours and 7 minutes behind the winner Al-Attiyah.

MOTOS - After the fast stretch recorded in the prologue, the Dakar took to the sands of the city of Hail for the first classic special this Sunday. But the result on the bikes was the same: Daniel Sanders victory. The GasGas pilot finished the course in 3:43:10 and ended the weekend ahead.

“Very difficult to navigate, it rained a lot last (Saturday) night and it was difficult to find the right trails. In the end a lot of people got lost and luckily we got in the way. It was a good ending. in the beginning, the pace was right and, in the end, we did as much as possible," said Sanders after the victory.

The fact that it rained a lot on Saturday night in Saudi and with more forecast for the next few days, despite being in the middle of the desert, caused the organization to abandon the marathon rule for the next two days. Without it, the pilots will be able to count on the assistance of the teams if necessary.

Honda and KTM, winners of all editions of the motorcycles in the Dakar Rally since the turn of the millennium, were just behind. Chilean Pablo Quintanilla, with the Japanese brand, ended 2min07s behind; and the Austrian Matthias Walkner, for KTM, had a slightly longer lag: 8min31s.

Sanders is also ahead in the overall standings, with a total of 4:38:40. Quintanilla, Walkner, Van Beveren, Klein, Sunderland, Santolino, De Soultrait, Branch and Howes complete the group of the 10 fastest. Petrucci and Benavides are 13th and 14th.

Autonews