Australian Daniel Sanders (GasGas) avoids Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) victory in the first stage of the 2023 Dakar Rally.which Spanish Joan Barreda repeated the position of the preface (fourth) and is running in second place overall, and the current champion, British Sam Sunderland (GasGas), was abandoned after an accident.

The stage was exciting until the end, with North American Mason Klein looking likely to win, but in the end it was decided in favor of Sanders, who, with just seven seconds, had two partial victories last year and Leader in the 2023 ranking.

A classification that the current champion no longer chooses, Sunderland crashed at the 52nd kilometer the first special part of the endurance test and had to give up the test. Despite being “conscious and fully mobile,” according to the organization, the double winner of the Dakar (who also won in 2017) had to be transferred to Yanbu hospital to undergo additional medical examinations.

The fastest 10 in Saturday’s prologue by Australian Toby Price (KTM) can pick a position out of the 28 available for RallyGP. After falling on first contact with the Dakar, Chile’s Nacho Cornejo (Honda) surpassed Mohammed Balooshi (KTM) and had to clear the track to make up for his lost time on the first day, but finished tenth at 06:25. winning.

Starting from 22nd, Sunderland led the first 37 kilometers (22:10) of the special with a ten-second lead over Quintanilla and Barreda and a thirteen-second lead over Price.

Now without Sunderland in the competition, At the second spot, 88, three Hondas were ahead.North American Ricky Brabec signed the best time (58:34), ten seconds better than Barreda and eleven seconds better than Quintanilla. California’s Mason Klein (KTM) lost thirteen in his RallyGP category debut, but turned the tide at the 133km, turning Brabec and Barreda 46 seconds and more than a minute over Price, Sanders and Quintanilla.

Klein consolidated first place In the special after 168, 1:26 against Sanders, 1:51 against Brabec and 2:26 against Barreda, who withdrew from the partial victory fight. The stage leader at the time, however, came in with just twenty seconds in the final intermediate step, at 277km, ahead of Sanders who went further and Argentina’s Kevin Benavides (KTM) about a minute and a half behind Brabec. Quintanilla and Barreda.

Klein finally dropped to sixth place, 54 seconds behind Sanders, after the 367km private race Quintanilla moved up to second place just seven seconds behind, Brabec ten seconds behind and Barreda twenty seconds behind.

Generally, Sanders is one minute ahead of Castellón and Brabec finishes the podium in 1:15.Price is sixth in 1:54 after winning the prologue.