Argentine champions Kevin Benavides and Manuel Andújar finished fourth in the motorcycle division and first in the quad category, respectively, after taking place in the first timed special of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.
With his new Red Bull KTM team motorcycle, Benavides from Salta covered the 19 kilometers of special between the cities of Jeddah and Hail in a time of 57m30s, two minutes less than the winner of the day, the Australian Daniel Sanders, from the Gas team. Gas Factory Team.
The 2021 Dakar champion also fell behind Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Honda), second with a time of 56m30s, and Ross Branch (Yamaha) from Botswana, third with 57m25s.
“I have felt very good. This prologue is always like this, it gives a bit of nerves. The first few meters with the bike I was a bit stiff, but I think I had a good time. It was important because now we are going to choose the starting order . The race starts just tomorrow “, declared the Argentine on the official website of the competition.
The first Dakar station will be completed this Sunday with phase 1B, laid out in a loop in Hail with a length of 514km. (333km. Of time). The route of this 44th. The Dakar edition is characterized by the abundance of partial circuits with start and finish in the same place, since there will also be “rollers” in Riyadh (stages 5 and 6), Wadi Ad Dawasir (stage 9) and Bisha (stage 11).
Benavides (32 years old), the first South American rider to win the Dakar in the motorcycle division, is seeking this year the record of winning it with a different brand – last year he did it with Honda – something that no one has achieved since the most extreme rally started. from Europe and Africa, to start its stage in South America (2009-2019) and Saudi Arabia (since 2020).
His younger brother Luciano, 26, started the race with a thirteenth place, clocking 59m35s on his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team motorcycle.
The other Argentines in the category entered as follows: Diego Gamaliel Llanos (53rd), Joaquín Debeljuh Taruselli (57th), Diego Noras (66th) and Matías Notti (103rd).
Quadricycles
Andújar (Yamaha 7240 Team) had the desired premiere after winning stage 1A with a time of 1h10m10s, ahead of Frenchman Alexandre Giroud (+ 1m35s) and Chilean Giovanni Enrico (+ 2m35s), two of their main competitors.
The Buenos Aires man from Lobos faces his fifth Dakar with the responsibility of maintaining the winning Argentine tradition that began on quads Marcos Patronelli (2010, 2013 and 2016), followed by his brother Alejandro (2011 and 2012) and Nicolás Cavigliasso (2019).
The Cordoba-born American Pablo Copetti (Yamaha Rally Team) finished in ninth place at 7m50s; while the other two Argentines in the specialty, Francisco Moreno and Carlos Verza, entered 11th and 19th.
Cars
The Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota), three-time champion of the test (2011, 2015 and 2019), won with a time of 10 minutes and 56 seconds ahead of the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Audi), who debuted his hybrid vehicle.
In tenth place in the classifier, 1m06s apart, was Orlando Terranova (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) from Mendoza, three steps higher than his native Lucio Alvarez (Overdrive Toyota).
The other two Cuyanos pilots, Sebastián Halpern and Juan Cruz Yacopini, came in 18th and 25th.
Trucks
The Chaco Juan Manuel Silva (Puma Energy Rally Team) debuted in the trucks with a 32nd place, 8:23 behind the winner of the day, the four-time Russian champion Eduard Nikolaev.
The Dakar 2022 will run until Friday, January 14, divided into 12 stages, with a total route of 8,000 kilometers (4,300 timed).
This edition launches the first phase of the “Dakar Future” program, which aims to achieve 100% low-carbon vehicles by 2030.
In this direction, the rally that takes place for the third time in the Middle East presents two novelties: the implementation of hybrid engines in cars and trucks and the installation of a camp with renewable energies.
In sporting terms, the 44th. Dakar edition will be integrated for the first time into the World Rally Raid Championships of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM).
The 2022 season will be completed with the rallies of Abu Dhabi in March, Kazakhstan in April, Andalusia in June and Morocco in October.
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