The 44th edition of the Dakar started in the Italian morning with the Prologue, that is the stage that has already made the classification and outlined the starting order of the stage to be held tomorrow, January 2, 2022, in the ring stage that will start and end at Ha’il (first part of the Marathon stage).
Today the caravan faced a timed route of just 18.8 kilometers, the one that connected – without taking into account the transfer sections – from Jeddah to Ha’il. In the Car category, one of the great favorites of this edition was one of the great favorites of this edition: Nasser Al-Attiyah at the wheel of one of the renewed Toyota Hilux 4X4s of the official Toyota Gazoo Racing team.
As today’s stage is aimed at drawing the starting order of the first stage, which will start tomorrow, it is clear that Al-Attiyah did not make any calculations, preferring by far to start first from the first stage.
The strategy that Audi Sport may have adopted is interesting. In second position we find Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz at the wheel of the first RS Q e-tron. The Spanish crew reached the finish line 12 “behind the leaders, already showing good things from the performance point of view about the electric car brought to Saudi Arabia by Audi.
If Sainz has covered the Toyota strategy, Stéphane Peterhansel – another of the three Audi drivers and multiple Dakar winner – has chosen the opposite strategy, that is to start behind the big favorites for the final victory like the new teammate. , Mattias Ekstrom.
The French and the Swede, both new Audi Sport standard bearers, respectively took the 14th and 15th time, which will lead them to start after several opponents in the first stage of January. Peterhansel, at the end of the stage, confirmed his desire not to finish in the Top 10 for tomorrow and so he adopted a rather slow race pace for his standards. Mission accomplished. The real Peterhansel will be seen from tomorrow, when the classification will really start to count.
The Century team seems to have chosen the same strategy, which again this year proposes Mathieu Serradori and Brian Baragwanath. It was the latter who signed the third time of the stage, a breath away from Sainz’s and his Audi’s time trial. The Frenchman, on the other hand, did not go beyond the 19th time.
The Prologue also highlighted the driver destined to be the second driver of Toyota Gazoo Racing, or Hank Lategan, fourth at the wheel of the second official Toyota Hilux. Closes the Top 5 Sébastien Loeb, with the first Hunter of the BRX team (Bahrain Raid Xtreme). The Alsatian is racing for the first time with the new navigator Fabian Lurquin. A good start for the team that uses the cars built by Prodrive, also considering the seventh time of Nani Roma and Alex Haro Bravo.
Not to be underestimated is Yazeed Al Rajhi, author of excellent races in recent editions and eager to test himself again this year at the wheel of a Toyota Hilux managed by the Overdrive team. The Saudi is in sixth place, or between the two Hunter of Loeb and Rome.
Giniel De Villiers, accompanied by the new navigator Dennis Murphy, is eighth with the third official Toyota Hilux, while behind him we find the Polish Jakub Przygonski, at the wheel of the first MINI John Cooper Works Buggy of the X-Raid Orlen team. Orlando Terranova, third driver of the BRX team, closes the Top 10.
Light Weight Prototypes: Quintero and Mikkelsen, Red Bull domain
In the Light Weight Prototypes category, the Red Bull Off-Road team immediately dominated with the double by the usual Seth Quintero and rookie Andreas Mikkelsen.
The American beat the rookie and current WRC2 and ERC champion by just 3 “. Francisco Lopez Contardo, first driver of the EKS – South Racing team, closes the Top 3. Good start also for the other two drivers of the Red Bull Off-Road team, with Guillaume De Mevius fourth and Cristina Gytuerrez Herrero in sixth place.
Dakar 2022 – Cars – Prologue ranking
Pos. | Pilot / navigator | Car | Time / posting |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Al-Attiyah / Baumel | Toyota Hilux 4X4 | 10’56 “ |
2 | Sainz / Cruz | Audi RS Q e-tron | +12 “ |
3 | Baragwanath / Cremer | Century CR6 | +36 “ |
3 | Lategan / Cummings | Toyota Hilux 4X4 | +36 “ |
5 | Loeb / Lurquin | Prodrive Hunter BRX | +37 “ |
6 | Al Rajhi / Orr | Toyota Hilux 4X4 | +47 “ |
7 | Rome / Haro Bravo | Prodrive Hunter BRX | +49 “ |
8 | De Villiers / Murphy | Toyota Hilux 4X4 | +50 “ |
9 | Przygonski / Gottschalk | MINI JCW Buggy | + 1’01 “ |
10 | Terranova / Oliveras Carreras | Prodrive Hunter BRX | + 1’06 “ |
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