Route: Bisha > Bisha – Liaison 86km | Special 413km
– The 2025 Dakar Rally properly kicked-off with a massive 500km to complete on Stage 1. It was in at the deep end for the racers.
– In the Ultimate class, Brazilian Lucas Moraes led the 413km special stage for the majority of the day, but decided to hit the brakes before the finish line to ensure a favourable starting position for tomorrow’s 48-hour Chrono Stage
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– While Moraes finished the stage with the eighth fastest time, it was his Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Seth Quintero who took the win. Quintero’s stage win puts the 22-year-old in the outright lead of the Ultimate class. “It’s always good to get the first one done. We got past quite a few cars, then we saw Laia Sanz had a big crash, so we stopped there and did what we could to help,” said the American.
– Joining Quintero and Moraes in the top 10 on Stage 1 were the Dacia Sandrider of Cristina Gutiérrez, the Ford Raptor T1+ of defending champion Carlos Sainz and the Toyota Hilux driven by former bikes champion Toby Price.
– “The stage was quite tough. In many places it was difficult to see the line. Many places were also very narrow and the car got quite damaged,” reported 62-year-old Sainz after the stage.
– As night fell, it was unclear if Laia Sanz would be able to finish the stage. The finisher of 14 consecutive editions of the Dakar was involved in a crash 330km into the stage and had to wait for assistance to try and get her Century CR6 moving again.
– In the Bike class, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders made it two wins from two. The Australian followed up Prologue victory with a clear win on the tough and technical Stage 1. He now leads closest rival Ricky Brabec by 2m 22s heading into the 48-hour Chrono.
– “There was a lot of dust, so it probably wasn’t the smartest thing to start at the back. In the end, everyone caught up with each other, so you had to stand your ground and stay strong,” said the 30-year-old.
– Fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Luciano Benavides sits just outside the overall top five after a strong ride, while his older brother Kevin is also still in the mix, along with 19-year-old rookie Edger Canet.
– Unfortunately, this year’s Dakar Rally has ended early for India’s Hairth Noah, who suffered a fractured wrist during yesterday’s Prologue.
– There was a second consecutive runner-up finish for Gonçalo Guerreiro of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team in the Challenger class. The Portuguese driver followed up his impressive Prologue drive with another good display in his Taurus T3 Max and is just four seconds behind early leader Nicolas Cavigliasso. “That’s the first stage of the Dakar done. The navigation was tricky but my co-driver Cadu did a very good job and the car is perfect,”
– Guerreiro is joined in the Top 5 of the Challenger class by fellow Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team driver Corbin Leaverton who finished the stage in fifth.
– In the SSV race, Dakar veteran Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López sits second overall. The Chilean driver is less than eight minutes behind SSV leader Xavier De Soultrait with 11 stages remaining and looking strong.
– The demanding start to the 2025 Dakar Rally continues with the early arrival of the 48-hour Chrono Stage. Racing over 1,000km across two days, the convoy will enter the stage tomorrow morning and when the clock strikes 5pm, competitors must stop at the next of six rest areas they arrive at. Then, on the morning of January 6 the remainder of the enormous timed stage must be completed.
2025 Dakar Rally selected overall standings after Stage 1
Ultimate
1. Seth Quintero (USA) 4h 35m 8s
5. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP) 4h 37m 21s
7. Lucas Moraes (BRA) 4h 38m 26s
8. Carlos Sainz (ESP) 4h 38m 35s
9. Guillaume de Mevius (BEL) 4h 40m 45s
11. Mitch Guthrie Jr. (USA) 4h 41m 5s
12. Toby Price (AUS) 4h 41m 6s
15. Mattias Ekström (SWE) 4h 43m 10s
17. Nani Roma (ESP) 4h 44m 36s
18. Giniel de Villiers (ZAF) 4h 45m 34s
19. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) 4h 48m 41s
23. Sébastien Loeb (FRA) 4h 49m 24s
58. Rokas Baciuška (LTU) 6h 55m 33s
60. Laia Sanz (ESP) 7h 6m 54s
Bike
1. Daniel Sanders (AUS) 4h 58m 18s
6. Luciano Benavides (ARG) 5h 9m 0s
14. Edgar Canet (ESP) 5h 30m 42s
17. Kevin Benavides (ARG) 5h 34m 19s
50. Mohammed Balooshi (ARE) 6h 10m 58s
Challenger
2. Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR) 4h 47m 16s
5. Corbin Leaverton (USA) 5h 2m 37s
8. Dania Akeel (SAU) 5h 7m 11s
SSV
2. Francisco López (CHI) 54 0m 18s