Quintero recovers stage victory at the expense of Chicherit

While he thought he had won the first stage of the 2025 Dakar, Guerlain Chicherit will have to settle for second place. After intervention by the commissioners at the end of the 413 km loop around Bischa, it was Seth Quintero who was declared the winner at the wheel of his Toyota Hilux.

Initially second, 50 seconds behind the Mini driver, the American was subsequently credited with 1'35. The decision to give him back this lost time follows a stop he observed during the stage to assist Laia Sanz, who was injured at the wheel of her Century buggy, who rolled over around kilometer 330 after hitting a stone.

This scratch also allows him to take control of the general classification, although this remains anecdotal given the progress of the stage. Seth Quintero is thus leader with 45 seconds ahead of Guerlain Chicherit, but he will have the difficult task of opening the road on Sunday during the first part of the formidable 48H stage.

It is precisely with this in mind that many favorites chose this Saturday to voluntarily lose time, several of them not even appearing in the top 10 in order to ensure they start as far away as possible on Sunday.

For Guerlain Chicherit, this first step was more difficult than it seems since there will be work on his Mini. He actually had to stop for several minutes to stop the start of a fire.

“We set off at a very good pace this morning, before encountering GPS problems like everyone else, from what I understood upon arrival”he confided. “We took a lot of risks to overtake and a rear part of the car came off and hit the rear exhaust, which started a fire.”

Provisional general classification Cars