Dakar Stage 1: Sanders wins in Bikes, Chicherit NOT 1st in Cars (Update)

French Mini driver Guerlain Chicherit was fastest in the 413km first stage around the southwestern town of Bisha, but Toyota’s Seth Quintero, who finished 50 seconds behind, was promoted hours later.

Quintero was credited with 95 seconds to make up for time lost when he stopped to assist Spaniard Laia Sanz, who had crashed.

South Africa’s Saood Variawa was third in a Toyota Gazoo Hilux. The 19-year-old driver is taking part in his second Dakar Rally.

The 48-Hour Stage 2 is currently underway.

Cars Stage 1 and Overall Ranking – Top 10 (REVISED)

Stage 1 of the 2025 Dakar Rally is in the books and Lucas Moraes took the win in the Car Category and Daniel Sanders in the Bike Category.

Cars: Chicherit takes hard fought win

Mini driver Guerlain Chicherit took the stage 1 win with 50 seconds to spare over the Toyota of Seth Quintero.

The Frenchman fought his way through an army of bushes, losing parts of his vehicle in the process but netting Mini their first victory since the 2021 Dakar.

Chicherit started the final section of the stage trailing Moraes by 18 seconds, but made rapid gains for his eighth career stage win in Dakar and Mini’s first at the event since 2021.

Moraes elected to strategically stop the car for several minutes in order to put himself in a more favorable starting position for the 48-hour chrono stage covering Sunday and Monday, dropping to eighth in the order.

Sandbagging continued further down the order as Carlos Sainz Sr. overtook Guillaume de Mevius, who started first on the road, but chose to slow down on purpose to have a better start position for Stage 2.

At first sight, the other Dakar favorites seem to be reeling from massive time losses, almost invariably finishing below 20th place, over ten minutes down. In fact, they all eased up on the accelerator to avoid having to start the 48 h chrono stage too close to the front.

The only one who got carried away was Carlos Sainz, who will hit the course in seventh position tomorrow morning, making him a prime target for Al Attiyah (20th),  Al Rajhi (21st) and Loeb (22nd).

Bikes: Double Delight for Sanders

The winner of the prologue, Daniel Sanders, has done it again, claiming victory in stage 1. The Australian finished 2m04s ahead of Ricky Brabec and 2m26s clear of Ross Branch.

Tosha Schareina, who was just 18s behind Sanders at the previous waypoint, completed the stage 4m42s off the leader’s pace.

Skyler Howes, who clocked 14m49s behind Sanders, will have the time he spent assisting the injured Sebastian Bühler reinstated, which ought to bring him closer to the stage podium.

Cars Stage 1 and Overall Ranking – Top 10

Bikes Stage 1 Ranking – Top 10

Bikes Overall Ranking – Top 10