On a terrain with similar characteristics to those that the competitors will encounter throughout the first week of the race, 2021 runner-up Al-Attiyah completed the 19km Prologue section located between Jeedah and Ha’il in 10m56s as he kick-started his bid for a fourth Dakar win to add to previous successes in 2011, 2015 and 2019.
The Qatari driver, giving the new Toyota Hilux its Dakar bow, took the top spot from fellow three-time Dakar champion Sainz, who finished just 12 seconds off the pace in the leading Audi entry.
However, while the 2010, 2018 and 2020 winner was able to show the raw speed of the new Audi on the opening day of the rally-raid, his team-mates encountered a less successful outing.
Defending and 14-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel dropped 1m12s to finish 14th, ahead of 2016 World Rallycross champion Mattias Ekstrom in the third Audi.
Brian Baragwanath was a surprise third for the Century Racing marque, leading Toyota’s Henk Lategan and WRC legend…
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