The first week of the 2022 Dakar, which took the competitors from Jeddah, via Hail, to the Saudi capital Riyadh, was extremely tiring. Not only for the drivers, but also their co-drivers. Navigation proved to be very difficult, with every day throwing up some surprises. The crews are pleased to be able to rest a little and recharge their batteries again today. However, they still have the odd media and sponsor commitment to fulfil.
It will not be a rest day for the mechanics and engineers in the X-raid team – on the contrary: They must prepare the MINI desert racers for week two. To achieve this, the cars will be almost completely dismantled, checked and reassembled.
Review of the first week
The opening week was an emotional rollercoaster for X-raid. Jakub “Kuba” Przygonski (POL) struggled with issues on the first few days. Working closely with the engineers, he was able to solve the issues and go on the offensive. This allowed them to climb from ninth to fifth in the overall standings. Unlike many of their rivals, they avoided making any big mistakes – either behind the wheel or in terms of navigation.
Kuba Przygonski: “The last few days have been very long and tiring. It was actually a good week. We lost some time at the start, but were able to make a few changes to the Buggy and can now compete with the leaders again. We must push hard next week, as we still have time to make up.”
It has been completely the other way round for Argentinean Sebastian Halpern, who is contesting his first Dakar in the MINI JCW Buggy. He was very fast for the first few days, but then the terrain changed. He repeatedly had to stop for punctures on the rocky ground. However, as he and his co-driver Ronnie Graue also avoided making any major errors, they were able to hold onto their place in the top ten of the overall standings.
Sebastian Halpern: “I am proud that we are in the top ten after the first week. The MINI JCW Buggy is running very well and smoothly. The first week could definitely have gone better, but my goal was to be in the top ten on the rest day. I have achieved that. We want to push more in the second week, then see what happens.”
This year’s Dakar brought a big change for Spain’s Laia Sanz: Last year, she started the rally on a bike – now she lines up in the Car category in a MINI ALL4 Racing. Sanz and Gerini had the misfortune of having to start behind the trucks at the start of the week. They are not only difficult to overtake, but also “destroy” the ground. For the past few days, however, they have started in front of the heavyweights and have consistently improved.
Laia Sanz: “The first week was an awesome experience. Sure, we had problems and lost time, but we are coping better with the MINI all the time and are gaining a lot of experience. Maurizio is also doing a great job. On the fifth day, we were finally able to start in the top 30, which was a big advantage. The route is in much better condition. As such, our goal for the coming week is always to finish in the top 30, in order to ensure we have a good starting position.
Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov were struck by very bad luck on yesterday’s sixth leg. Shortly after the start, a technical fault caused them to stop and wait for the Race Truck. After the repair, they resumed the stage and eventually finished 71st. They now lie 32nd overall.
Unfortunately, the 2022 Dakar came to a premature end for Yasir Seaidan (KSA) and Alexey Kuzmich. They rolled their car violently on day five. Fortunately, the safety standard in the MINI JCW Rally is so high that they were uninjured.
Week two takes the competitors back to Jeddah over the course of six legs. The route now runs through the south of Saudi Arabia, where the drivers will once again be faced by a lot of sand and dunes.
Nothing is possible without partners
X-raid can depend fully on the support of its technical partners at the Dakar. The team has been working with exhaust manufacturer AKRAPOVIC for roughly eight years, during which time they have won four Dakar titles together. All the MINI desert racers area again equipped with AKRAPOVIC products in 2022.
NGK SPARK PLUG is a new partner of the X-raid team. X-raid trusts in glow plugs from the world’s leading ignition and sensor specialist at the Dakar.
Overall standings after week 1
1. N. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel – Toyota – 20h 37m 24s
2. Y. Al-Rajhi / M. Orr – Toyota – 21h 27m 43s
3. S. Loeb / F. Lurquin – BRX – 21h 27m 49s
4. L. Alvarez / A. Monleon – Toyota – 21 44m 22s
5. J. Przygonski / T. Gottschalk – MINI JCW Buggy – 21h 53m 49s
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9. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Buggy – 22h 14m 49s
10. V. Zala / P. Fiuza – MINI JCW Rally – 22h 48m 41s
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25. L. Sanz / M. Gerini – MINI ALL4 Racing – 24h 54m 58s
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32. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 26h 25m 56s
