FOCUS
The first contests on this year’s edition of the Dakar took place at the gateway to the city of Bisha, on a terrain with a sequence of sandy tracks. Over 29 kilometres without navigation difficulties, the riders and drivers most comfortable with slaloming between the bushes took command of the race. The landscape no doubt reminded Australian Daniel Sanders and South African Henk Lategan of the expanses of bushland in their home countries where they honed their riding and driving skills.
OUTLINE
- Daniel Sanders is used to making a mark at the beginning of the Dakar and won today’s prologue just like in 2022. The winner of the Rallye du Maroc finished 12’’ahead of W2RC 2024 winner Ross Branch, as well as the rally’s most prominent debutant, Spaniard Edgar Canet..
- For his first day on the Dakar as an official KTM rider, the young, 19-year-old Catalan was the quickest Rally 2 rider. However, the category immediately lost its title holder Harith Noah when the Sherco rider fell, fractured his wrist and was forced into a premature exit from the race.
- Henk Lategan, 5th in the overall general rankings in 2023 and absent in 2024, made a winning return to the race: the South African triumphed today with the best time on the prologue. He won by just one second in front of the Ford Raptor driven by Mattias Ekström, while Nasser Al Attiyah in his Dacia completed the day’s podium, 20’’ behind the day’s winner. The times on the prologue do not count towards the car category general rankings, which is a relief for Guillaume de Mévius, who suffered a puncture and lost 4’16’’ changing a wheel.
- On his first day on the Dakar, American Corbin Leaverton achieved the best time in the Challenger class, beating his Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team stable-mate Gonçalo Guerreiro, also a debutant on the rally, by 4’’. Their two closest pursuers are also the leading pair in the category’s W2RC rankings: Nicolás Cavigliasso (3rd, 11’’ behind) and current champion Yasir Seaidan (4th, 19’’ behind).
- Another American debutant, Brock Heger, won in the SSV category behind the wheel of a Polaris, ahead of Argentinean Jeremías González Ferioli and title holder Xavier de Soultrait. The battle is underway between the Sébastien Loeb Racing drivers and the Can-Am vehicles driven by Sara Price and ‘Chaleco’ López, respectively 4th and 5th today.
- The newcomer to the truck category, Vaidotas Žala, almost made a dream debut, finishing in 2nd place, just 7’’ behind the day’s winner Mitch Van den Brink and especially 16’’ ahead of title holder Martin Macík.
PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY
Detecting talent is the prime objective of the Red Bull Off Road Junior team. It has become clear that the selection process was a success, because the year’s two new recruits have taken the top two places in the Challenger class on the prologue. Twenty-three-year-old Californian Corbin Leaverton’s victory is reminiscent of the success enjoyed by his neighbour and friend Seth Quintero, who spent time with the same team for his debut on the Dakar in 2021. Twenty-four-year-old Portuguese diver Gonçalo Guerreiro has also met the expectations placed on him. During the rest of the year, he is a test driver for JB Racing, the family business run by his father. However, this has not stopped him from accomplishing the best times in the SSV category on the Baja Aragon and Baja Norte Portugal. Today he has transferred this promise onto the Dakar and the world stage.
A CRUSHING BLOW
The first competitor to suffer misfortune on the Dakar was one of the leading lights last year, because Harith Noah won the Rally 2 category and finished 11th in the motorbike general rankings. This encouraged ambitions of a top 10 finish for the Indian rider, but he fell and fractured his wrist on today’s prologue. Since his injury requires minor surgery, Noah has been forced into a premature exit from the race for the fourth time in his career on the Dakar, depriving Sherco of one of its hopes for the 2025 edition. However, the French team can still count on two Rally GP riders, namely Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino and Portuguese rider Rui Gonçalves, both of whom are in the reckoning to battle with the elite.
W2RC: Doors wide open
The FIM rules for the 4th season of the W2RC open the doors of the championship to bikers from all over the world. From now on, any rider enrolled in the Rally 2 class on a leg of the calendar can score points and appear in the rankings. Edgar Canet, who arrived on the scene midway through 2024 on the 3rd leg in Portugal could become one of the leading protagonists of the season. He is also the first official rider to join the category. With the switch to Rally GP of title holder Bradley Cox, the die-hards in the class Michael Docherty and Tobias Ebster displayed their intentions to make their performances count this year by climbing onto the day’s podium. Like Canet, Jacob Argubright has also sensationally emerged, into 4th place in the Rally 2 rankings with the leading Honda, the new motorbike for the brand’s customers, for which the American has been development rider since the Dakar 2024.
STAT OF THE DAY: 3 out of 6
Making a sensation on your first day on the Dakar is a rare feat. Over the last 10 editions, four competitors have managed, notably Kris Meeke, who won in the Light Prototype class in 2021, Anibal Aliaga in 2018 and Ravil Maganov in 2017, both in the SSV category, and not forgetting Sébastien Loeb in 2016 in the car race. Going back even further, to 2006, Carlos Sainz also did it. However, this year, bursting on to the scene has taken on an altogether greater dimension: three debutants won in one of the six categories in the prologue. Edgar Canet, at the tender age of 19 years, dominated the day’s Rally 2 rankings and even outdid some more experienced Rally GP riders. In the Challenger class, American Corbin Leaverton also tasted victory on his first try. Lastly, Brock Heger, who has strengthened the ranks of Polaris, achieved the day’s best time in the SSV category.
SAUDI NEXT GEN: IN AT THE DEEP END
It was somewhat of a field day for the participants in the Saudi Next Gen academy. At the start of the morning, they had the honour of making the first tracks on the Dakar prologue route. Straight afterwards, they set out on the route designated today for the Dakar Classic, for a total daily distance of 117 kilometres, including the link stages. The five crews were then introduced on the bivouac podium at “prime time”, between the elite bikers and car drivers. Though their times are being kept secret, Edo Mossi, the Saudi apprentice’s coach, closely observes everyone’s behaviour, and not just how fast they can go. “For example, the quickest driver today reached the finishing line with hardly more than a glass of petrol left, which means they drove very aggressively and wouldn’t have gone a kilometre further! On the other hand, another kept almost the same pace and finished with the tank half full,” explains the Italian. “And when you see how Merehin Albaz won the wheel changing competition yesterday, it’s also interesting. What I really notice is that their learning curve is very impressive. Their level is already transformed in relation to three days earlier”. They now have two more to win Edo’s approval!
THE MAKINGS OF A CLASSIC
The prologue on the 5th edition of the Dakar Classic took place over 59 km split into 2 specials in the race for consistency. However, behind the scenes, the competition had already begun yesterday evening by a game of bluff, revealing the competitive spirit that will light up the coming fortnight. Following nostalgic rediscovery on the first editions, fine-tuning of the vehicles in the last two editions, in 2025 it is now the time of racing strategy! Yesterday evening, the organisers received last minute category changes from two crews, numbers 700 and 701, none other than the title holder and last year’s runner-up. With an eleventh-hour switch from the H2 to the H1 category, Carlos Santaolalla and Lorenzo Traglio caught their designated rivals unaware, namely number 702, the Morera-Ruba couple’s Porsche 959, and Dirk Van Rompuy’s number 703. The Spaniards and the Dutch, who remain in H2 requiring a higher speed, set off before the scheming strategists who hoped to take advantage of different racing conditions but more importantly prevent their forerunners from familiarising themselves with their performances during the day. The Dakar Classic rules allow the competitors to change category until the evening of the prologue. Tomorrow, our four aces will have put their cards on the table and we will see whether or not Juan Morera, the winner in 2023, will take the gamble of staying in H2, or fall in line with his competitors by dropping down to H1. The gloves are off and the fight has begun!
