The Spanish Carlos Sainz (Audi) staged a great comeback in the first stage of the Rally Dakar 2023in which he came to be 3:17 behind his teammate Mattias Ekstrom, whom he dethroned in the last 90 kilometers, in which he also overtook the Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain).
The Madrid driver completed the 367 kilometers of special in 3h20:41 and snatched victory from the Swede, who was third, 47 seconds behind, and the Alsatian, who had to settle for second place, 23 seconds behind.
The three-time Dakar champion (2010, 2018 and 2020) achieved his third victory with the hybrid Audi and the forty-second in its 16 Dakars. A triumph with more merit, if possible, after overcoming the first obstacle that presented itself.
Reinforced by his victory in the prologue, the Swede Mattias Ekstrom (Audi) set the fastest time (20:48) at kilometer 37, with 11 seconds over Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota). Carlos Sainz (Audi), who started fifth, had problems and was 2:41 behind his teammate. The ‘Matador’ had to come back.
The Swede remained in front after the first 88 kilometers of special, although with only two seconds over Guerlain Chicherit (GCK Motorsport) and Stéphane Peterhansel third at 1:27. Sainz went further but left 3:17 behind the first. Those behind Ekstrom alternated positions. Chicherit remained second after 133 kilometers, at 1:03 and Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain) moved to third place, still far behind those ahead of him in the stage standings, almost two minutes behind Audi.
The Frenchman stormed the second position at the 168 kilometer crossing point, the penultimate reference point before the finish line, but was not able to close the gap with the leader. Sainz, sixth at the time, was almost four minutes behind from Ekstrom and less than two from the nine-time world rally champion. Victory began to get complicated for Ekstrom after 277 kilometers of special, with 90 to go in the stage. From behind, they pressed.
The situation had improved considerably for Sainz. In the last ‘waypoint’, the Spaniard passed third with the same time as Chicherit, Loeb 58 seconds behind and less than two minutes behind the leader, with Al-Attiyah 25 seconds behind. Sainz completed the epic in the final part of the stage and finished with 23 seconds ahead of the Alsatian, 47 over Ekstrom and more than a minute over Chicherit. Also, he put 7:09 on Al-Attiyah.
In general, the man from Madrid leads with 10 seconds over Loeb and 33 over Ekstrom.
Sanders wins on motorcycles
the australian Daniel Sanders (GasGas) avoided the triumph of Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) in the first stage of the 2023 Dakar Rallyin which the Spanish Joan Barreda repeated the position of the prologue (fourth) and marches second in the general and the British Sam Sunderland (GasGas), current champion, abandoned after an accident.
The stage was exciting until the end, it seemed that the North American Mason Klein was going to win it, but in the end it was decided by just seven seconds in favor of Sanders, who last year achieved two partial victories and leads the 2023 ranking.
A classification to which the current champion no longer opts, Sunderland, who suffered an accident at kilometer 52 of the first special of the endurance test and had to quit the test. Although he was “conscious and fully mobile”, according to the organization, the double winner of the Dakar (he also won in 2017) had to be transferred to the Yanbu hospital to undergo additional medical examinations.
The ten fastest in the prologue on Saturday, won by Australian Toby Price (KTM), could choose a position among the 28 available for RallyGP. After having fallen in that first contact with the Dakar, the Chilean Nacho Cornejo (Honda) overtook Mohammed Balooshi (KTM) and had to open the track to overcome the time he lost on the first day, but was tenth, at 6:25 of the winner.
Sunderland, who started from 22nd place, led the first 37 kilometers of the special (22:10), with a ten second advantage over Quintanilla and Barreda and thirteen over Price.
Now without Sunderland in competition, At the second point, 88, three Hondas appeared in the lead, with the North American Ricky Brabec signing the best time (58:34), ten seconds better than Barreda and eleven compared to Quintanilla. The Californian Mason Klein (KTM) lost thirteen in his debut in the RallyGP category, but turned the situation around at kilometer 133, in which he led Brabec and Barreda by 46 seconds and by more than a minute. to Price, Sanders and Quintanilla.
Klein consolidated the first place of the special after 168, with 1:26 over Sanders, 1:51 over Brabec and 2:26 over Barreda, who dropped out of the fight for partial victory. However, the then stage leader reached the last intermediate step, the one at kilometer 277, with only twenty seconds ahead of Sanders, who was going further, and around a minute and a half behind the Argentine Kevin Benavides (KTM), Brabec, Quintanilla and Barreda.
Klein finally fell to sixth position, 54 seconds behind Sanders, after 367 kilometers of special, Quintanilla climbed to second place, just seven seconds behind, Brabec was ten seconds behind and Barreda, twenty seconds behind.
In general, Sanders leads the man from Castellón by a minute and Brabec completes the podium at 1:15while Price, after winning the prologue, is sixth at 1:54.
