Sanders just misses out on Dakar prologue 

The 2024 Dakar Rally is underway and Australia’s Daniel Sanders fell just short of Prologue victory.

The 46th edition of the Dakar Rally and fifth in Saudi Arabia began on Friday night where drivers and riders got an early taste of what’s to come in the 27km Prologue.

One of the top contenders is Australian “Chucky” Sanders who has backed that theory up by showing strong pace straight out of the gates on his GasGas factory machine.

Despite a disrupted build up following a horrific crash in May, Sanders went for it in the Prologue and posted a strong time of 17 minutes and 47 seconds.

Of the 142-bike field, only one rider could outdo Sanders and that was Honda’s Tosha Schareina.

The Spaniard made an instant impression in his first ride for the factory outfit by storming to a strong 17:35s time, 12s better than Sanders.

Despite being the runner-up, Sanders believes the early pace bodes well for when the proper stuff begins.

“Finished second and this will give us a starting position tomorrow,” he said post stage.

“We will be back in the pack, follow through and let all the lines come to get into a rhythm again.

“We finished early today so will get some rest, food and sleep before sending it tomorrow.”

Fellow big name Australian Toby Price is also in the mix, staying out of trouble to show decent pace before coming in at P8.

The two-time Dakar champion clocked at time of 18:26s, 51s off the leading Spaniard.

Price revealed he made a small error which cost him time on the KTM.

“I Made a little mistake and lost a lot of seconds,” Price revealed. 

“Will make a game plan for the first stage and will go from there.

“The bike is good and I feel comfortable, so we’ll see how it all goes.”

On four wheels Audi shot out of the blocks with former Bathurst driver Mattias Ekstrom taking out the Prologue.

Ekstrom pushed the Audi RS Q e-tron hard to set the strong time of 16:30s which was even a minute faster than the bikes.

The Swede enjoyed a 23s buffer on Toyota factory driver Seth Quintero with nine time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb a further 3s adrift in third.

Reigning Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah did not have the fastest start to his Prodrive career, having to settle for 12th fastest, just over a minute off the pace.

In T4 Aussie Glenn Brinkman successfully completed his first drive at Dakar alongside Dale Moscatt.

The duo came home in 33rd position of the 42-car class after 21 minutes and 29s behind the wheel.

This meant there were three minutes and 55 seconds off the pace, but will be better for the experience as they prepare for the opening stage.

“It is hard to believe it is finally happening,” a buzzing Brinkman said after his Dakar debut.

“To start under the clock and do the 27km was an ideal little shootout to see how we go.

“It handled a lot better than our Australian car but felt under powered which is the difference of running a restrictor. 

“The car still feels really good and strong and ran with no problems.

“The briefing said it would be 95% sand which is what it was. There was a tricky rocky section in the first 500m which put the wind up me a bit but there was a lot of sand and camel grass where you could easily come undone.

“At least I know what to expect now.”

The Prologue remained a qualifying session of sorts with the top 10 runners able to choose their own starting spots for the opening stage.

Stage 1 is a brand new route from Alula to Al Henakiyah where competitors will complete a 541km journey around volcanoes tonight.

The 2024 Dakar Rally will be broadcast by SBS with highlights each morning.

Dakar 2024 Bikes Prolouge results

Dakar 2024 Cars Prolouge results

Image by Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool

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