After announcing the car success of Guerlain Chicherit on Saturday during the first stage in Saudi Arabia, the Dakar 2025 finally awarded it to Seth Quintero, while Daniel Sanders confirmed on the motorbike. Nearly two hours after proclaiming the victory of Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit on the 413km special in 4h 35min 53sec, the Dakar organization announced at the end of the day that it would finally award first place to the Toyota of Seth Quintero, 22 years old.
“The American stopped at kilometer 330 for an accident. He recovered 95 seconds, which put him ahead of Guerlain Chicherit and he won the stage“, declared the organizers in the press room shortly before 6:00 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. Paris time). Guerlain Chicherit (Mini) therefore finished in second position, 45 seconds behind the winner, who also took the lead in the provisional general classification. “It was a boring day, because we were all strategizing for tomorrow. We definitely didn’t want to be on the podium“, he added.
Nine-time world rally champion but having never yet managed to win in the Dakar, Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (Dacia) ranks 24th, 12 minutes behind the winner. The result of a fool’s game. “It was a problem-free stage for us, we didn’t take any risks. The goal was not to set the best time so we stopped for a few minutes at the end to lose a little time and avoid having to open the road tomorrow“, explained the Alsatian to the press when he got out of the car.
Sanders does it again
The two other heavyweights of the rally-raid, the Spaniard Carlos Sainz and the Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah, are in 7th and 20th positions respectively. The Dakar competitors will be engaged on Sunday and Monday in the formidable “48h chrono”, a special of nearly 1,000km without assistance over two days. In these conditions, opening the road, as the leaders of the previous day’s stage must do, could constitute a serious disadvantage.
-In the motorbike race, Australian Daniel Sanders (KTM) confirmed his victory in the prologue the day before by finishing the first stage in the lead, 4h 41min 27sec on the clock. The 30-year-old KTM rider, who aims to become the second Australian to win the Dakar on a motorcycle after Toby Price (2016 and 2018), took the lead in the special at kilometer 151 and managed to stay there, although than closely followed.
The winner of the last Morocco rally was ultimately timed at 4h 41min 27sec on the 413km special, leaving his pursuers Ricky Brabec, defending champion, and Ross Branch two minutes behind. Riding his Honda, Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren finished 8th, almost a quarter of an hour behind the leader.
“The second half was much better, once I got out of all that dust. The bike runs well, the body feels good“, declared Daniel Sanders upon his arrival in the bivouac. Tracing an 8,000km curve through Saudi Arabia, the famous rally-raid will find its outcome on January 17 in the desert dunes of the Empty Quarter, at the border with the United Arab Emirates.
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