Bisha (Saudi Arabia) (AFP)
Carlos Sainz victorious after an incredible comeback and Sébastien Loeb left behind: the first stage of the Dakar 2021 kept its promises on Sunday, not to mention the setbacks of the American Ricky Brabec, title-holder in motorcycles.
"El Matador" wanted to mark the spirits of entry and did not fail.
Starting in 28th position after a mixed prologue on Saturday, the Spaniard, winner of the event in 2020 for his first foray into Saudi Arabia, saw all the best drivers of the most famous rally-raid start in front of him .
This did not prevent the fantastic comeback of the two-time world rally champion, 58 years old, who thwarted the traps of navigation and had to deal with a flat tire.
Neck to neck in the last sector with his French teammate at Mini, Stéphane Peterhansel, Sainz finished 25 seconds ahead of "Monsieur Dakar" at the end of the 277 km special between Jeddah and Bisha.
Behind the two strong men of Mini, the Czech Martin Prokop (Ford) took third place.
But the other event in the car, it is the disappointment of Sébastien Loeb on the "Hunter" of BRX: "I have rarely done such a rotten special", admits the nine-time world rally champion, victim of three punctures and who did "a little gardening" alongside his co-pilot Daniel Elena.
Understand: they got lost and are already left behind 24 minutes late.
- Women's victory -
In motorcycles, the Australian Toby Price (KTM) won this first stage completed in 3 h 18 min and 26 seconds.
The two-time Dakar winner (2016 and 2019) edged Argentina's Kevin Benavides (Honda) and Austrian Matthias Walkner (KTM) by 31 and 32 seconds respectively.
This rolling and fast special on the Saudi tracks on the other hand reserved a very bad surprise for the defending champion, the American Ricky Brabec (Honda) who crossed the line 18 min 32 seconds behind the winner of the day, after looking for his way at the start of the special.
His Spanish team-mate Joan Barreda also lost time in navigation and dropped more than a quarter of an hour, as did the Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna).
Frenchman Xavier de Soultrait (Husqvarna) finished 6th at 4min 35sec behind Price.
His compatriot Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) is 17th at the end of this first day.
But the surprise of the day is the victory of Cristina Gutierrez in the category of light vehicles, those kinds of mini prototype buggies that travel at more than 100 km / h.
At the wheel of his Toyota, the 28-year-old Spaniard has become the first woman to win a stage on the Dakar in 16 years.
On Monday, for the second stage of this second edition in Saudi Arabia, the competitors will have to cover 685 kilometers on Monday, including 457 km of special, between Bisha and Wadi Ad-Dawasir with the first dunes on the program.
© 2021 AFP