A short prologue acted as a prelude to the 2023 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. Four different brands were found in the first four places. Toby Price (KTM) marked best time. Germany’s Sebastian Bühler (Hero) and Austria’s Matthias Walkner (KTM) secured places in the top 10.
The “Sea Camp” was located north of the port city of Yanbu on the Red Sea. In the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, the last technical checks and administrative tasks were carried out there. Finally, on Saturday, the 45th Dakar Rally got underway.
After the 121 motorcycles had rolled over the starting ramp, the prologue, which was only 13 kilometers long, was on the agenda. It was a packed sand track that was pretty fast. The bikes started in reverse order, with the top riders coming last.
Defending champion Sam Sunderland was the last to start. The Brit’s timing was initially wrong, but eventually he classified tenth on his GasGas. With 8:22 minutes, KTM ace Price secured the best time.
The Australian was a second faster than his compatriot Daniel Sanders (GasGas). For the overall result, the prologue times are multiplied by a factor of five. This means that Price has a five-second lead over Sanders.
Best Honda representative in third place
Best Honda representative was Joan Barreda in third place. The Spaniard is no longer part of the official factory team, but he will receive support and work closely with his colleagues as in previous years.
The Hero team also got off to a good start with three riders in the top 10. Bühler, the only German in the top class, finished the prologue in eighth place. He was tied with Austrian Walkner, but the 2018 Dakar winner was seventh in the standings.
The result of the prologue is primarily used to determine the starting order for the first real stage. Price gets to choose his starting position first, Sunderland last in tenth place in the prologue.
Tomorrow on New Year’s Day a loop around the “Sea Camp” is on the program. The first long stage covers a total of 603 kilometers, of which the classified section covers 386 kilometers.
Result of the prologue (top 10):
01. Toby Price (KTM) – 8:22 minutes 02. Daniel Sanders (GasGas) +0.01 seconds 03. Joan Barreda (Honda) +0.09 04. Ross Branch (Hero) +0.09 05. Kevin Benavides (KTM) +0.09 06 Joaquim Rodrigues (Hero) +0.10 07 Matthias Walkner (KTM) +0.11 08 Sebastian Buehler (Hero) +0.11 09 Michael Docherty (Husqvarna) +0, 13 10. Sam Sunderland (GasGas) +0.13