Dakar 2025 SS1: Chicherit thought he had won

While the French driver Guerlain Chicherit thought he had won the first special of this Dakar 2025, it was ultimately Seth Quintero who climbed to the top, thanks to a very fair play.

Indeed, during the event, the Spaniard Laia Sanz had an accident and rolled over. Quintero stopped to help the CenturyCR6-T driver. So he wasted time. Except that the rules of the Dakar, like any rally raid, are that the time lost to help another driver or crew is deducted from the race time.

So here are Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz who place their Toyota GR DKR Hilux at the top of the timesheet, for just 10 seconds. The second is Chicherit and Winocq on Mini JCW Rally 3.0l. Unexpectedly, we find the South African Variawa (Toyota). At 20 years old, he is already racing his second Dakar and scores a nice podium.

48 hours Chrono from tomorrow

Prokop, former WRC and Dakar regular, is 4th ahead of the first Dacia crew: Cristina Gutierrez and Pablo Moreno. Among the favorites, Carlos Sainz is 8th, Nani Roma 17th ahead of Giniel De Villiers and Nasser Al-Attiyah. Loeb is 23rd at 14 minutes.

Tomorrow, the Dakar will have a “48H Chrono” event. Inaugurated last year, the format consists of running over two days. At 5 p.m. on the first evening, competitors must reach one of the six rest areas provided on the course. It’s a bit like the old marathon specials but here we bivouac where we are. This special will be 947 km. This Dakar 2025 starts with some difficulty.

Last minute: Laia Sanz must give up. The chassis was affected and for 2 mm the FIA ​​could not let the driver restart.

Top 15 of the Dakar 2025 after SS1