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Dakar 2024 Stage 1 Results: Hero's Ross Branch Wins As Guillaume de Mevius Pips Sainz For Top Spot
Stage 1 of Dakar 2024 saw Hero's Ross Branch win the stage in the bikes category while Overdrive Racing's Guillaume de Mevius claimed the top spot in the cars category.
The day saw the racers travel from from AlUla to Al Henakiyah, a journey of 541 kilometres which included the 414km long timed special stage. Riders and drivers snaked around volcanoes in every shade of grey as well as the usual desert dunes of Saudi Arabia.
Bikes
Stage 1 was a brilliant one for India's Hero Motocorp as their Botswanan rider Ross Branch claimed his 4th Dakar stage win today.
Branch started the day in blistering fashion and was leading the race when he stopped to assist Prologue winner Tosha Schareina after the Spanish rider crashed out of Dakar 2024 with a broken wrist.
Branch crossed the line in 16th spot, 16 minutes and 10 seconds behind Honda's Ricky Brabec. However, Branch got 25 minutes back, which took him to the top spot for Day 1.
Branch ended the day with an adjusted time of four hours, 56 minutes and 01 second and ended the day 10 minutes and 54 seconds ahead of American rider Brabec.
Another American rider, Korr Offroad Racing's Mason Klien, set the time sheets aflame over the early checkpoints. Klien completed the stage in five hours, seven minutes and 20 seconds, 11 minutes and 19 seconds behind Branch.
Hero's other riders had a mixed day in the dunes with Portuguese rider Joaquim Rodrigues crashing out 82km into the special stage. His other teammates, Joan Barreda Bort and Sebastian Buhler rushed to his aid, and the Portuguese rider was conscious when he was airlifted out, though it is thought that he may have broken 'something', as per the reports.
Both Barreda and Buhler had time credited to them on a day when the team's riders lived up to the name plastered on the tanks. Spain's Barreda Bort ended the day in the 13th spot, 22 minutes and 43 seconds behind Branch. Sebastien Buhler ended up 19th overall with the German rider ending the stage, 34 minutes and 41 seconds behind teammate Branch.
Sherco's trio of riders including India's Harith Noah had a good day in the saddle. The best rider from the Sherco lineup was Lorenzo Santolino who ended the day in 7th place, 14 minutes and 11 seconds behind Branch.
Portugal's Rui Goncalves was the second Sherco rider across the line, 35 minutes and 51 seconds behind the leader. Goncalves ended the day in the 20th spot.
India's Harith Noah ended up two places behind Goncalves in the 22nd spot. Noah finished the special stage five hours, 33 minutes and 42 seconds which was 37 minutes and 41 seconds behind Branch.
The other Indian rider at Dakar 2024, Ashish Raorane who was running as privateer, disappeared off the timing sheets after the KP170 checkpoint. Raorane had unfortunately crashed 169 kilometres into the special stage.
Despite the crash causing fractures of the collar bone in two places, Raorane tried to soldier on, but it was an impossible task and he's now on the way back home from the Dakar to get surgery to fix up his injuries. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him again at Dakar in 2025.
Cars
The start time for the cars for Stage 1 of Dakar 2024 was delayed due to multiple reasons. Firstly, the car that was supposed to start today's stage first was missing.
Then, the car that replaced the missing one was involved in an incident with a spectator about 200 metres into the special. The injured spectator was taken to the nearest hospital.
Anyway, once the race started it was AUdi Ekstrom who blitzed off into the lead. However, what appeared to be a flat tyre, saw his teammate Carlos Sainz Sr take over the lead.
However, El Matador couldn't hold on till the end as Belgian driver Guillaume de Mevius blitzed the field ending the day on the top step of the podium with a time of four hours, 35 minutes and 59 seconds.
Sainz ended the day in the second spot, 1 minute and 44 seconds behind the Belgian's Toyota Hilux. Sainz finished the special stage with a time of 4 hours, 37 minutes and 43 seconds.
The final podium spot was claimed by Toyota's Giniel De Villiers. The South African driver ended the special stage in 4 hours 45 minutes and 17 seconds, 9 minutes and 18 seconds behind the leader.
The other Audis of Ekstrom and Peterhansel ended the day in the 10th and 24th spots respectively. Favourites, Sebastien Loeb and Nasser Al-Atiyyah, now driving the same Prodrive car, ended the day in the 20th and 22nd spot respectively, both over 20 minutes behind the leader.
Thoughts About Dakar 2024 Stage 1
The first stage of Dakar 2024 saw a day of thrills and spills as Hero's Ross Branch took the stage win, his third as a Hero rider and 4th overall at the Dakar. Meanwhile, in the cars section, Belgian driver Guillaume de Mevius blitzed the field to claim the top spot.
Tomorrow's stage will see competitors go even further with a 655-kilometre stage (with a fast 463km special stage) as Dakar 2024 heads to Al Duwadimi.
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