After the Dakar Rally started on 1 January with a short prologue, the drivers embarked on the first real stage on the second day. After a gruelling journey of over 500 kilometres, the first drivers cross the finish line.
The first motorcycles have crossed the finish line and Australian Daniel Sanders managed to do this, just like in the prologue, in the shortest time. The rider has a lead of two minutes and seven seconds on number two Pablo Quintanilla. KTM rider Matthias Walkner clocks the third time. Mason Klein and Lorenzo Santonelli round out the top five.
Leader Nasser Al-Attiyah won in his Toyota also on the second day. He had a 12 minute and 44 second lead over nearest challenger Sebastien Loeb.
Red Bull had a success with Seth Quintero, who won Stage 1B. He was one minute and 53 seconds faster than champion Chaleo Lope. Debutant Sebastien Erikssen was third.
Polish driver Aron Domzala won the stage. He won by 2 minutes and 7 seconds over 2021 champion Austin Jones. Brazilian Luppi de Oliveira came also close in third, 4 minutes and 29 seconds behind Domzala.
The first trucks have also arrived and it looks like it will be a battle within a team this year. Just like yesterday, the Russian team Kamaz was dominant. Sotnikov wins the stage, 38 seconds ahead of Nikolaev and over 18 minutes ahead of Shibalov. Andrey Karginov was in the lead for a long time, but finished fourth. All these trucks belong to the Kamaz team.