Mini’s de Mevius wins opening Dakar Rally stage

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The Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia got underway in earnest on Sunday with the first official stage, a 350-km (217.5-mile) charge through a rocky section filled with narrow passages and hard-packed terrain, and concluding with a fast run through sand dunes. The prologue winner, Mattias Ekstrom and his Ford Raptor, led the way again for much of the stage but ended up fourth at the finish, 1m38s behind the triumphant X-raid Mini of Guillaume de Mevius, who emerged on top by 40s over the Dacia of five-time Dakar champion Nasser Al Attiyah.

“Winning a stage always feels good, but it wasn’t really our strategy for the day,” de Mevius admitted. “Still, it’s a positive sign because we didn’t feel we had the outright pace to take the stage. Tomorrow, Mathieu [Baumel, co-driver] and I will be opening, and I’m very happy about that.

“Our approach is different from the others. We’re a bit on our own in this Dakar. We’ll ride our way and, if we win stages, all the better, and we’ll manage to have the best possible day the next stage. With Mathieu on my right, I’m not worried about opening a special. But of course, there is strategy involved, and we’ll need to stay mindful for what comes next.”

The triumph was especially significant for co-driver Baumel, who said “just being at the start is already a victory.” Eleven months earlier, the Frenchman had been fighting for his life after being hit by a car while assisting someone on the roadside. Having lost his right leg, he was still in hospital when he made the decision to line up for the 2026 Dakar. Defying all medical expectations, Baumel delivered a phenomenal effort to get physically ready, fitted with a prosthesis tailored to the demands of rally raids. By claiming stage 1 alongside de Mévius, he has already given the world one of the most inspiring lessons in courage and determination of the 2026 Dakar.

Runner-up Al-Attiyah said he was also taking a cautious approach to the stage.

“We had a good pace and could have pushed harder, but when we saw Sebastien Loeb with two flat tires, we decided to be cautious and avoid puncturing ourselves,” he explained. “Finishing second is good. For tomorrow, it’s also positive. We’ll start three minutes behind Guillaume and can push from there.”

While the Ford Raptors that rued the prologue had quieter finishes – Ekstom fourth, Carlos Sainz Sr. sixth and America’s Mitch Guthrie ninth – they needn’t be too concerned, according to veteran Loeb, who placed 10th today after his aforementioned delays.

“A couple of small punctures at the start cost us a bit of time, but in the end it’s fine,” said the French rally legend. “We’re three minutes back in the overall. We didn’t want to push for time today given tomorrow’s conditions, so for us, it’s perfect.”

Defending champion Yazeed Al Rajhi will not be as happy after finishing the special almost 29 minutes down on de Mévius, having accrued two penalties totaling 16 minutes, one for missing a waypoint and another for speeding.

Rokas Baciuska took his first Dakar win in the production Stock (T2) car class. The Lithuanian had previously claimed SSV and Ultimate stage wins in his precocious career and this year is trying his hand at the Stock class, and came away bemused despite his class victory.

“I don’t really know what happened to my [Defender Rally] teammates. I saw Stephane [Peterhansel] having a problem, and he told me to keep going,” he related. “There were a lot of rocks, so you really had to take care of the car. Anyway, the plan is to bring the car to the finish every day. Today it worked out, so far so good, but there are still plenty of tough days ahead.