January 2, 2017 – The 2017 edition of the Dakar Rally kicked off today from Paraguay and it was Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah who took an early lead by setting the quickest time in his Toyota Hilux.
Al-Attiyah clocked 25 minutes 41 seconds to beat his closest pursuer Xevi Pons in the Ford Ranger by 24 seconds, while Nani Roma claimed the third quickest time in another Toyota Hilux.
The best-placed Peugeot was Carlos Sainz in fourth place, ahead of Giniel de Villiers and Sebastien Loeb respectively.
It is worth mentioning that Al-Attiyah ran into mechanical trouble after finishing the special stage and had to be towed by his Toyota team-mate de Villiers.
General car ranking after SS1:
| Pos. | N° | Name | Mark | Time | Variation | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 301 | AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) | TOYOTA | 00:25:41 | – | – |
| 2 | 311 | PONS (ESP) | FORD | 00:26:05 | 00:00:24 | – |
| 3 | 305 | ROMA (ESP) | TOYOTA | 00:26:10 | 00:00:29 | – |
| 4 | 304 | SAINZ (ESP) | PEUGEOT | 00:26:14 | 00:00:33 | – |
| 5 | 302 | DE VILLIERS (ZAF) | TOYOTA | 00:26:22 | 00:00:41 | – |
| 6 | 309 | LOEB (FRA) | PEUGEOT | 00:26:36 | 00:00:55 | – |
| 7 | 306 | AL RAJHI (SAU) | MINI | 00:26:47 | 00:01:06 | – |
| 8 | 307 | DESPRES (FRA) | PEUGEOT | 00:26:55 | 00:01:14 | – |
| 9 | 303 | HIRVONEN (FIN) | MINI | 00:27:01 | 00:01:20 | – |
| 10 | 310 | VAN LOON (NLD) | TOYOTA | 00:27:03 | 00:01:22 | – |
| 11 | 308 | TERRANOVA (ARG) | MINI | 00:27:05 | 00:01:24 | – |
| 12 | 300 | PETERHANSEL (FRA) | PEUGEOT | 00:27:15 | 00:01:34 | – |
| 13 | 318 | DUMAS (FRA) | PEUGEOT | 00:27:25 | 00:01:44 | – |
| 14 | 316 | PRZYGONSKI (POL) | MINI | 00:27:28 | 00:01:47 | – |
| 15 | 320 | RAUTENBACH (ZWE) | TOYOTA | 00:27:40 | 00:01:59 | – |
