Audi is off to a strong start for this Dakar 2023. After Swede Mattias Ekström’s best time in the prologue on Saturday, it was Spaniard Carlos Sainz who took the scratch during the first stage of the event on Sunday aboard his hybrid buggy, on a 368 kilometer loop around Sea Camp on the west coast of Saudi Arabia.
Dakar
Ekström wins the prologue ahead of Loeb by… one second
YESTERDAY AT 09:38
The triple winner of the biggest rally-raid in the world (2010, 2018, 2020) beat Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (BRX), already second on Saturday, by 23 seconds, and his teammate Mattias Ekström, by 47 seconds. Defending champion, the Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) was ranked seventh, at 7’17”.
In the general classification, Carlos Sainz leads with 10 seconds ahead of Sébastien Loeb and 33 over Mattias Ekström.
Sunderland dropout
In Motorcycles, it was the Australian Daniel Sanders (GasGas) who won after a time marked by the abandonment of his British teammate, defending champion, Sam Sunderland. “The defending champion fell at km 52 of the special and was taken care of by the medical service”said the organizer, ASO. “Conscious and fully mobile, he nevertheless suffers from back pain and was airlifted to Yanbu hospital for further examinations”.
Daniel Sanders was seven seconds ahead of Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) and American Ricky Brabec (Honda). He takes the lead in the general classification, ahead of the Spaniard Joan Barreda (Honda) at 1′, and Ricky Brabec, at 1’15”.
Dakar
A strange 45th candle for the Dakar
30/12/2022 At 08:50
Dakar
Will the seventh attempt be the right one? Loeb is ready for victory
29/12/2022 At 23:08