South Africa’s Gazoo Toyota team driver, Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah scored a psychologically important opening stage win in the 2018 Dakar Rally on Saturday. Attiyah beat Dutch Toyota teammate Bernard Ten Brinke to second by 25 seconds, with a surprise as Nicholas Fuchs puts the all-new Borgward in third a further 11 seconds adrift, from US driver Bryce Menzies, who edged his Spanish Mini teammate Nani Roma for fourth.
South African Toyota Hilux hero Giniel de Villiers ended the day in sixth ahead of the similar car of Argentine Lucio Alvares driving with SA navigator Rob Howie and Mikko Hirvonen 8th in the revolutionary new Mini buggy, while Peugeot made a steady start with 2017 winner Stephane Peterhansel best placed in 11th. Essentially a pipe-opener for the real race that starts Sunday, Saturday’s results set the starting order for the second stage, so it is likely that the Peugeots among others, were sandbagging in search of a preferable lower starting position on Sunday.
South African privateers, Hennie de Klerk and Gerhard Schutte enjoyed a positive Dakar debut to end up a provisional 52nd in the TreasuryOne Amarok.
On two wheels meanwhile, 2017 winner, Brit Sam Sunderland took the opening bike stage for KTM, 32 seconds clear of French Yamaha rider Adrien van Beveren, with Spaniards Perdo Quintanilla’s Husqvarna and Joan Barreda-Bort on a Honda next up — that made it four motorcycle makers in the top four. Early leader Yamaha rider Xavier de Coultrait held onto fifth over KTM man Mattias Walkner, while South African Husqvarna star David Thomas will start Sunday in a strong position after ending a brilliant 29th on the opening day.
Of the other South African motorcyclists, Willem du Toit ended 86th, Donovan van de Langeberg ended up 98th and Lesotho rider Wessel Bosman and another SA lad Gerrie van der Byl winding up just seven seconds apart in 115th and 116th - all of them riding KTMs.
In quad action, Yamaha duo Ignacio Casale and Sergey Karyakin proved their favourite status by eclipsing upstarts Sebastien Soulday and Kamil Wisnewski. The motorcycles and quads started in reverse order, which meant that 2017 winner Sunderland started last of all, but the cars started in seeded order, with pole man Stephane Peterhansel’s Peugeot first off.
Dakar 2018 got under way with a ceremonial start in Lima, before competitors headed down a 243km open section toward Pisco, where Martín Sarquiz, riding a Can-Am quad was the first competitor to start the day’s short 31km special stage in a bash through the dunes. 188 motorcycles and quads, 103 cars and 44 trucks started the 40th edition of the Dakar, with 114 of the 523 competitors making their Dakar debut, while 51 had already raced 10 or more Dakars.
Sunday’s Day 2 action sees a 267km dune challenge to test crews to the limit around Pisco - follow the action as it happens on the TreasuryOne www.motorsportmedia.co.za live blog starting 13h00 SA time.
