Medina Province, in the north-western quadrant of Saudi Arabia, set the scene for Saturday’s 46th Dakar Rally, which was 414 kilometers.
In his very first stage in the premier class, Guillaume de Mevius finished 1 minute, 44 seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz.
A flurry of punctures cost Nasser Al Attiyah 25 minutes and his teammate Sébastien Loeb 23 minutes, while Guerlain Chicherit limped home with a 22-minute loss.
“Slaloming among stones at 30 km/h (was not) our idea of fun. We knew it wouldn’t be a great stage in terms of driving, but we had to do it,” Loeb said following the stage. “We overcame it, but not without problems. We had a flat tire once and we also had to change a tong link.
“All that cost us a quarter of an hour, but we’re here… It was hell, we were just hoping to avoid any more punctures. We made it, that’s all that matters now.”
Other Notes
• In the motorbike category, Several riders were brought down by stones, including the victor of the prologue, Tosha Schareina, who was one of the favorites to take the motorbike race. Schareina suffered a fractured arm.
Ross Branch completed the stage with the fastest time and notched his fourth career Dakar stage win. He now holds a 12-minute margin over the 2020 Dakar champion, Ricky Brabec and Mason Klein.
• In the quad race, Brazilian Marcelo Medeiros overtook all his rivals, including Alexandre Giroud, who will now be in the unfamiliar position of having to claw back time after losing more than half an hour due to a mechanical issue.