Carlos Sainz lead the way during the first day of the 2013 Dakar Rally, setting a time of 7m40s on the 13-kilometer short stage of Pisco. He is now 24 seconds ahead of Lucio Alvarez‘s Toyota. Guerlain Chicherit and Sain’z teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah are a further 8 seconds behind.
Commenting on his first day, Al-Attiyah said: “It feels great to be racing after spending so much time on test drives. So I’m quite happy just to start the Dakar with this car. I put the pedal to the metal from the start and I’m happy with the time I posted in such a short special. Of course, everyone drove really hard today, but I think we’re well placed for tomorrow’s stage.”
Francisco Lopez and Ignacio Flores Seminario head the pack in the Bikes and Quads categories respectively, with Gerard De Rooy fastest of the trucks.
Stage 2 of the rally starts 2 hours from now in the Peruvian city of Pisco.