The Saudi Arabian desert’s dunes and sand have already made themselves felt, giving the 2020 edition of the Dakar Rally a dramatic and action-packed opening day. The 752km stage – with 319 timed kilometers – shook up the Bivouac this evening with the stage’s results, penalties and punctures.
Navigation, as was predicted, has leveled the playing field, with a relative unknown driver 32-year-old Vaidotas Zala and co-driver Saulius Jurgelenas (both from Lithuania) claiming the overnight lead with their Team Agrorodeo MINI All4 Racing X-Raid machine. However, it wasn’t as straightforward as that: Zala had his work cut on the sand roads and dunes, with defending champion Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux), Carlos Sainz (Bahrain JCW X-Raid MINI Buggy) with team-mate Stephane Peterhansel in the second MINI Buggy, and Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi (PH-Sport Peugeot) vying for the lead on the opening sections of the stage. South African Giniel de Villiers (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux) suffered no less than four punctures before the half-way point of the stage.
The race for the fastest stage time swung in the favour of Al Qassimi with less than 100km of stage distance remaining,but a series of punctures over rocky terrain put paid to the Emirati’s overall speed. Peterhansel, Al-Attiyah and Sainz were shocked by Zala’s stage time, besting the fastest of these Dakar legends by more than two minutes.
Further upset and frustration lay in wait for all motorsport fans as Romain Dumas’ RD Limited DXX buggy (based on the Pegueot 2008 DKR) burnt out only 65km into Stage One, leaving the Frenchman and his team’s Dakar Rally dreams in tatters.
On two wheels, action was less dramatic – no more less punishing. Toby Price – defending Bikes category champion – lead from the start to finish on his KTM, in a bid to stamp his authority on this year’s race from the outset. He was followed to the overnight halt in Al Wajh by American Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Team Honda 2020), but his team-mates Matthais Walkner and Sam Sunderland are close by on the time sheets.
In the Trucks category, fastest was Russian Kamaz-Master team driver Anton Shibalov, followed by Belorussian Siarhei Viazovich (MAZ-SportAuto) and Janus van Kasteren (Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco). Favourites for victory between these giants over the past years has been raged between Ales Loprais (Instaforex Loprais Praga) and Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz-Master), with these two completing the opening stage in ninth and tenth places respectively.
Tomorrow the racing continues on from Al Wajh to Neom, with competitors enjoying a shorter day at 401km overall. Those expecting the racing to be any less furious will be in for a shock, however, as special stages account for a full 367km of the route.
