Aussies fight hard on the bikes in Dakar opener

Australian two-wheel stars Toby Price and Daniel Sanders battled, but survived the “brutal” opening stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally.

Sanders and Price sit ninth and 16th in the standings having fought their way the first 414km stage from Alula to Al Henakiyah.

Leading the way is Ross Branch, who was the only rider to go within five hours with a time of 4:56.01.

He was just shy of 11 minutes faster than Americans Ricky Brabec and Mason Klien.

Sanders was the fastest Australian in ninth place, 16 minutes and 54 seconds off the front running pace.

It would have not been an easy ride for the GasGas factory rider having recently recovering from a broken femur.

But “Chucky” Sanders gritted his way through five hours, 12 minutes and 55 seconds of riding to emerge in ninth and he was simply happy to see the finish line of the opening stage.

“It was rock and roll out there today mate,” he said.

“I loved it (but) I definitely wished I set the bike up a little bit different because it was punishment out there.

“It was a good way to knock us around straight away because it feels like we have done five days already.

“For me to come straight off the injury and into that was brutal but I did not want to crash. That was the priority.

“We are in not a too bad spot so happy to make it to the finish without any scratches.”

Toby Price riding his KTM under the Saudi Arabia sun. Image Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool

For two-time Dakar champion Price, it was far from a smooth ride having lost more than 20 minutes on the opening stage.

The Aussie also stopped to assist the injured Tosha Schareina, who crashed when he was near the KTM rider, who was eventually rewarded the time back for the selfless stoppage.

But that was far from Price’s only issue as he revealed a gear shifting issue on his bike proved costly.

“it was definitely rocky – quite a tricky area to get through and stay on the road book.

“I had a bit of misfortune probably about 70km before refuel I had a gear lever fall off and was stuck in fourth for a while.

“But we are here at the finish and it is only day 1 with a long way to go.”

Debutante Glenn Brinkman got through his first ever Dakar stage unscathed after six hours, 21 minutes and 16 seconds behind the wheel.

After being 33rd in the Prologue, Brinkman and co-driver Dale Moscatt made the impressive leap up to 16th.

Reflecting on his first taste of a full day at Dakar, Brinkman – covered in dirt –  was surprised by the pace having driven cautiously and experienced a late flat tyre.

“It was the longest stage I have ever done so it was a pretty big deal,” he said.

“But we went really well and were careful, just clocking over the kilometres. I am quite surprised by the result because we were not going fast, just careful.

“Everything was pretty much uneventful and the only thing we had was just a flat tyre 50km from the end.

“That was my fault, I just clipped a rock. We did the last hour and a half in the dark which took a bit to get used to and the dust is horrendous.”

Toyota’s Guillaume de Mevius was a surprise name at the top of the timesheets in cars as Prodrive heavyweights Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sebastien Loeb struggled.

Guillaume de Mevius leads the 2024 Dakar Rally for Toyota. Image by / Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool

Despite being a distant 32nd in the Prologue, De Mevius flew across the opening stage to secure a maiden win  at the famous event.

De Mevius’ time of four hours, 35 minutes and 59 seconds was enough to beat Audi’s Carlos Sainz by a minute and 44 seconds, while Giniel de Villiers is a further nine minutes behind.

After topping the Prologue, Mattias Ekstrom led early but lost time to De Mevius and Sainz as the stage progressed.

Meanwhile, both Loeb and Al-Attiyah were battling almost as soon as the stage began and battled to regain time for the remainder of the day.

Loeb drifted to 20th, 22 minutes off the pace, while defending Dakar champion Al-Attiyah was a further three minutes back in 22nd after two punctures in the first 50 km left him without spare wheels.

Loeb opened up on the battles.

“Slaloming among stones at 30 km/h was not our idea of fun,” he said.

“We knew it wouldn’t be a great stage in terms of driving, but we had to do it. We overcame it, but not without problems.

“We had a flat tyre once and we also had to change a tong link. All that cost us a quarter of an hour, but we’re here…

“It was hell, we were just hoping to avoid any more punctures. We made it, that’s all that matters now.”

Stage 2 of Dakar is a 463km special from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi.

Flavien Duhamel / Red Bull Content Pool

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