The Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) won in the first qualifying stage for the Dakar-2022, Saturday between Jeddah and Ha'il, with a time of 10 minutes 56 seconds on the 19 kilometers of special.
Behind him, Spaniard Carlos Sainz, two-time world rally champion and three-time Dakar winner, placed his new Audi hybrid in second place, 12 seconds behind, followed by South African Henk Lategan (Toyota).
To discover
Audi RS3, a sedan like no other
Our list of the best electric cars under 40,000 euros
What responsibility at the wheel of an “autonomous car”?
Three other favorites, French Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive), 5th, Spaniard Nani Roma (Prodrive), 7th, and South African Giniel De Villiers (Toyota), 8th, also finished within a minute of Al-Attiyah.
The results of this Saturday will determine the starting order for the first real special scheduled for Sunday.
The Dakar-2022 rally-raid started this Saturday for more than 8,000 km in two weeks in the sands of Saudi Arabia.