The Dakar Rally has started! The success of Poles in the prologue

According to tradition, the Dakar Rally started in early January. The 44th edition of the prestigious race will be held in Saudi Arabia for the third time. On New Year’s Day, the competitors drove a 19-kilometer prologue from Jeddah to Hail.

The success of Poles in the Dakar Rally. Three drivers in the top five in the UTV category

The Goczałowie brothers, who compete in the category of light UTV vehicles, presented themselves exceptionally well. Marek Goczał and Łukasz Łaskawiec won the prologue, and the second place, 14 seconds behind, was taken by Michał Goczał and Szymon Gospodarczyk. Aron Domżała and Maciej Marton were fifth (45 seconds behind). Such results of Polish drivers in this class are not surprising, as before the start of the race they were considered the favorites to win.

Poles also run in other categories. and Timo Gottschalk, driving the Mini, took ninth place in the car class. The prologue was won by Qatar Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota), a veteran of the Dakar Rally. This year’s edition is already 18th for him. In second place was Carlos Sainz (Audi), who won the entire race in 2010, 2018 and 2020.

Among motorcyclists, Maciej Giemza (Husqvarna) ended the prologue in 18th place, and 20-year-old Konrad Dąbrowski – son. For the young player, this is the second participation in. Last year he finished 28th, but more importantly, he finished the prestigious race as the youngest driver in history. Australian Daniel Sanders (Gas Gas) was the fastest rider. Kamil Wiśniewski (Yamaha) came sixth in the quad category. The leader is the winner of the race last year, Manuel Andujar. (Yamaha).

The route of this year’s edition of the Dakar Rally has nearly 8,400 kilometers. km, more than half of which are special stages. The rally is scheduled to end on January 14 in Jeddah.