MOTORSPORT: Records fall in Dakar Rally
Heartbreak for Aussie Toby Price, who claimed second on two wheelsThe 2023 motorsport season has kicked off with a bang, with the 45th running of the Dakar Rally seeing records tumble in addition to multiple outright lead changes on the 14th and final stage through the sands of Saudi Arabia.
In the car category, Nasser Al Attiyah etched his place in history as a five-time winner of the desert classic, claiming his fourth win in combination with co-driver Mathieu Baumel, with the success once again coming aboard a Toyota HiLux.
After taking the lead at the end of the third stage, the Qatari never looked back, with his 47 career stage wins closing in on Ari Vatanen’s record 50, and on Stéphane Peterhansel's chart-topping eight Dakar titles.
It was a significant event for Toyota, with its products filling four of the top five places.
For the first time in his career, Al Attiyah successfully defended a Dakar title, and he did it with the broadest margin seen in the class for 20 years, with a 1hr 20min gap to nine-time world rally champion Sébastien Loeb.
Loeb, for his part, dominated the second half of proceedings aboard a Prodrive BRX Hunter, setting a new benchmark for the event with an incredible run of six consecutive stage wins, bettering Vatanen’s five straight stage victories in 1989.
All told, the Frenchman claimed seven stages for the event.
As always, punctures, mechanical issues, crashes and a range of navigational issues took their toll on the competition.
The Audi RS Q e-tron attack largely came unstuck early when Carlos Sainz crashed out of stage nine, while Peterhansel didn’t make it past stage seven, with the remaining entry of Mattias Ekstrom classified 14th after topping the event opening prologue section.
Meanwhile, in the bikes, two-time Dakar victor Toby Price relinquished a 12sec lead before the final day of competition aboard his KTM, with Kevin Benavides coming through to claim the ultimate prize by 43sec, the narrowest margin of victory in Dakar history, and the first time there has been a last leg lead change in the class.
Price kicked the event off by winning the prologue, before a measured run through the opening stages, with the Aussie coming to the fore as competitors fell by the wayside late.
The final 136km sprint provided a seesawing battle from which the Argentinian ultimately prevailed.
In other Australian finishers, Daniel Sanders claimed seventh.
Elsewhere, former Australian Rally Champion Molly Taylor had a strong run in her Modified Production SSV class Can-Am.
After finishing 14th on debut in 2022, this year with co-driver Andrew Short, the combination finished in 12th, despite a puncture on the last day of competition.
That class was another to feature a last-day lead change, with 18-year-old Pole Eryk Goczal getting the better of Rokas Baciuška.
A sign of the toughness of the event, of the 355 vehicles that started across the car, motorcycle, quadbike, prototype, side-by-side and truck classes, only 235 made it to the finish.
Related: MOTORSPORT: Aussie Dakar disappointment
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