Stage 1B, the first real stage of the Dakar Rally 2022, covered a total of 513 kilometers, of which 333 timed. The drivers started and ended in Ha’il. In Saudi Arabia, there was mainly sand, sand and more sand on the program on Sunday.
In some places the sand had turned into more mud, because it had rained heavily at night around the Saudi city. However, this did not cause any major problems.
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Al Attiyah also the fastest on Sunday
Nasser Al-Attiyah, already fastest in Saturday’s prologue, shot out of the starting blocks during stage 1B. The Qatari, driving for Toyota, could only be followed by Swede Mattias Ekstrom in the early stages of the stage over 333 timed kilometers.
In the half of the stage, there was a 45 second difference between the two drivers in favor of Al-Attiyah. After 150 miles, the Qatari had extended his lead to two minutes over his competitor from Audi.
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Problems for many
In the end, Al-Attiyah crossed the finish line fastest after 333 kilometers, but the competition dropped a few stitches in the final phase and lost a lot of time.
While the Toyota man drove to the finish line in a line without significant problems, his Audi competitors were suddenly hopelessly lost. Ekstrom and Carlos Sainz Sr. are still not in at the time of writing and are also going to lose a lot of time. They seem to be driving in circles, as can be seen in the photo below.
Dutchman Bernhard ten Brinke seems to have the same problem. Sebastian Loeb kept somewhat in the footsteps of Al-Attiyah and conceded ‘only’ 12 minutes.
Stephane Peterhansel, the reigning champion, also ran into a major mechanical problem that caused him to stand still for a long time. As a result, the 2021 winner lost a lot of time on Sunday and already seems to have no chance for the overall victory. A huge blow to the Frenchman. Toyota driver Henk Lategan also stood still for a long time with problems and can already get the title out of his mind.
Tim and Tom Coronel have not yet reached the finish at the time of writing, but after 160 kilometers they were in 37th place.
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