The 2021 Dakar started as the 2020 one ended: with a victory for Carlos Sainz. The ‘Matador’ starred in a task of the white scarf and ovation, with a victory of those that mark distances and in a complex day for all in which the Spaniards shone, especially in the four wheels.
The first stage in conditions of the Dakar 2021 showed that The change in the rules of the ‘roadbook’ will be a serious handicap for those who are not absolutely brilliant in navigation. With only 10 minutes (cars, 20 motorcycles) to spare before departure, some paid dearly for not learning the key points well, especially those that opened the track between Jeddah and Bisha.
But the comeback of the day was carried out by the eternal Carlos Sainz. The Madrilenian and his co-driver Lucas Cruz taught his rivals a lesson. Starting from the twenty-eighth position, they fought for the stage victory until the final meters with a Stepháne Peterhansel who succumbed to the arreón of the last 50 kilometers of the Spanish. Despite giving up almost four minutes at the last checkpoint, he ended up recovering them to reach the finish line with a 25-second lead, allowing him to be the leader in the classification.
It was a day to highlight the sailors. The regulations released in this 2021 of the ‘roadbook’ caused a scuffle in those who were less fine or those who, simply, left opening track, without references. Thus, it is not strange to see twelve minutes allowed by Nasser Al-Attiyah, who was very proud after the prologue and was very disappointed after the first stage. Also to highlight the good work by Nani Roma, who with his newly released co-pilot Alex Winocq (Dani Oliveras stayed in Spain, with covid-19), left only 9 minutes with the winner of the day. To be measured: his teammate on the BRX Prodrive, Sebastien Loeb, gave up 23 minutes after having three punctures.
Not opening the track benefited those who started from behind and it will be necessary to see if Sainz and Cruz do not pay for this victory on Monday’s stage, when the dunes will appear for the first time on arrival at Wadi Ad-Dawasir in a very long day of 457 timed kilometers and almost 230 connecting kilometers.
Cristina Gutiérrez makes history
Reenganchada al Dakar ‘in extremis’, Cristina Gutiérrez managed to make history by becoming the first Spanish woman to win a stage of the toughest raid in the world. The Burgos did it in the ‘Side by Side’ category, that of light vehicles, at the wheel of her Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team prototype. After several years with Mitshubishi, Gutiérrez surpassed in a memorable stage ‘cocos’ such as Kris Meeke, just arrived from the World Rally Championship, or more experienced figures in this raid, such as the Brazilian Reinaldo Varela or José Antonio Hinojo himself, who was his main rival until the second part of the stage.
Gutiérrez thus culminates a spectacular progression, which began in 2017 with her first participation in the Dakar, in which she already made history by being the first woman to finish the raid in the car category.
Starting this Monday, it will be the benchmark, since as Sainz she is the new leader of her class, with a little more than a minute and a half over Varela. For something she is the recently signed by Lewis Hamilton’s team from Extreme E along with Sebastien Loeb.
Barreda is lost
On a bright day for Spaniards in various categories, Joan Barreda paid dearly for his good work in the prologue. The Valencian and his partner Ricky Brabec opened the track on motorcycles, something that in their case affected them too much. Both lost their way, in part, as explained by ‘Bang Bang’, because the GPS and the data in the ‘roadbook’ were out of date.
“It was a complicated day, we started in the front positions and already in the first part, on a radar there was a gap of kilometers between the GPS and the ‘roadbook’ and when we left there we lost a lot of time with Ricky,” he complained Barreda. The best Spanish was Lorenzo Santolino, who entered fifth on the handlebars of his Sherco, just under four and a half minutes behind the winner of the day, Toby Price. The Australian, winner in 2016 and 2019, wants his third Touareg and starts as one of the big favorites.
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