Janus van Kasteren has made an energetic start to the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. The Dutch trucker, who is the defending champion, has won the prologue. He clocked 19.34 minutes in the test over 27 kilometers in Al-Ula.
The Czech Ales Loprais gave up sixteen seconds and finished second. The Dutchman Mitchel van den Brink finished third, 45 seconds behind.
Spanish motorcyclist Tosha Schareina has won the prologue of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. He clocked a time of 17.35 minutes over the 27 kilometer route around Al-Ula.
Australian Daniel Sanders set the second fastest time in the test. He was 12 seconds slower than Schareina. Botswana Ross Branch finished third, 19 seconds behind. The Argentinian defending champion Kevin Benavides recorded the ninth fastest time in the prologue. He conceded 56 seconds to the winner.
Ekström wins in cars
The Swede Mattias Ekström won the prologue among the cars. He clocked 4:30 in his Audi. The American Seth Quintero (Toyota) set the second fastest time with 16.53 and the French rally champion Sébastian Loeb (Prodrive) set the third fastest time with 17.08. Nasser al-Attiyah, who won the Dakar Rally for the fifth time in the cars last year, started the rally with the twelfth fastest time. The Qatari conceded 1.01 to Ekström.
The Dakar Rally is being held in Saudi Arabia for the fifth time. The total length is 7,891 kilometers, of which 4,727 kilometers consist of timed special stages. The special in the first stage on Saturday from Al-Ula to Al Henakiyah is 414 kilometers. The desert rally ends after twelve stages on Friday, January 19 in Yanbu.
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