Carlos Sainz Sr's late surge gave him the opening Dakar2023 stage win over Sebastien Loeb 🏁 Full report from Stage 1 ⬇️
Sainz’s teammate Mattias Ekstrom led the majority of the 367km special near Sea Camp in Saudi Arabia, the former DTM ace grabbing the lead at the first checkpoint and steadily building his advantage from there.
Ekstrom not only conceded a position to his more experienced teammate Sainz but also the Bahrain Raid Xtreme entry of WRC legend Sebastien Loeb over the course of the day, the Frenchman likewise gaining a chunk of time on him in the final 90km stretch to the finish line. Fourth place went to French driver Guerlain Chicherit, who finished just over a minute down in a privateer Prodrive-built Hunter campaigned by his GCK Motorsport team.