The twisty, rocky trails near Cordoba played into the hands of the nimble Haval H8/Michelin (based on the BMW X3 CC) which caused something of a sensation with Carlos Sousa in command. The Portuguese driver claimed the opening stage of this year’s Dakar 2014 to beat a trio of Mini ALL4 Racings, the fastest of which was that of Argentina’s Orlando Terranova who finished just 11 seconds adrift.
It didn’t take Nasser Al-Attiyah long to familiarise himself with his new car since he completed the 180km stage in third place, 47 seconds behind Sousa and 28s clear of fourth-placed Spaniard Nani Roma. Fifth spot went to Carlos Sainz (SMG buggy, +4m3s), while Stéphane Peterhansel was sixth (+4m21s). Holowczyc (Mini), Lavieille (Haval) and Poulter (Toyota) all finished inside the top 10. Despite being a Dakar rookie, the latter even figured in the lead at Passage Control 1!
His South African team-mate Giniel de Villiers, who came second in 2013, dropped more than 15 minutes on the stage, however, and it was a tough baptism of fire for the factory Ford Rangers, with Argentina’s Lucio Alvarez reported stopped at Km104. Robby Gordon (Hummer) started the stage 26 minutes late and fellow American B.J. Baldwin (Chevrolet) has dropped 52 minutes already.
Leg 2 will take competitors to San Rafael via a 433km competitive loop.
Leg 1 positions:
1, Sousa/Ramalho (Haval/Michelin), 2h20m36s. 2, Terranova/Fiuza (Mini/Michelin), +11s. 3, Al-Attiyah/Cruz (Mini/Michelin), +47s. 4, Roma/Périn (Mini/Michelin), +1m15s. 5, Sainz/Gottschalk (Buggy SMG), +4m3s. Etc.