The first leader of Dakar 2024 in the cars category has been found. Mattias Ekström started the race in Saudi Arabia with a victory in the prologue held this Friday.
It was only 27km timed, which the Swedish Audi driver completed in 16m30s. This way, he was 23 seconds faster than Seth Quintero, making his debut in the main category of four-wheel drive vehicles for Toyota. Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme/Hunter) achieved the third time, 38 seconds behind – on par with Brazilian Marcos Baumgart (X Rally/Hunter). Cristian Baumgart, also in an X Rally Hunter, completed the top five.
A little further down, Stéphane Peterhansel, the “Mr. Dakar,” entered with the seventh time in his Audi, while Nasser Al-Attiyah – now in a Nasser Racing Hunter – recorded the 12th time, 1m01s behind Ekström. Carlos Sainz (Audi) was a bit more discreet, ranking 34th, 2m18s behind the leader.
Top ten of the prologue:
