The Ford Raptor RS Cross Country of Martin Prokop takes third place on Stage 1 of the 2021 Dakar behind the 2WD Minis of last year’s winner Carlos Sainz and Dakar legend Stephane Peterhansel.
The 4X4 Ford Raptor RS Cross Country of Martin Prokop has finished Stage 1 of the 2021 Dakar in Saudi Arabia in third place behind stage winner Carlos Sainz (X-Raid Mini JCW Team) and his teammate Stephane Peterhansel. The 4X4 HiLuxes of Giniel De Villiers (8th) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (10th) didn’t fare so well on the stage but are still in the hunt.
The next fastest 4X4 after Prokop was the BRX Hunter of Nani Roma in 6th ahead of the Toyota HiLux of Jakub Przygonski (7th), then the Toyota HiLux of Giniel De Villiers (8th), the Century CR6 of Yasir Seaidan (9th) and the Toyota HiLux of Nasser Al-Attiyah (10th).
Carlos Sainz completed Stage 1 in his 2WD Mini in 3h 05m 00s, just 22 seconds ahead of teammate Stephane Peterhansel, and 4m 42s ahead of Prokop (Benzina Orlen Team). The stage consisted 345km of liason and a 277km special, running from Jeddah to Bisha.
Australia’s two-time Dakar winner Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Team) was the fastest bike rider on Stage 1 ahead of Kevin Benavides (Monster Energy Honda Team 2021) and Matthais Walkner (Red Bull KTM Factory Team). Other Aussie riders in this years Dakar include Daniel Sanders (KTM Factory Team) who finished Stage 1 in 25th, Micheal Burgess (BAS Dakar KTM Racing Team) who finished the stage in 35th and Andrew Houlihan (Nomadis Adventure) who finished the stage in 62nd.
The 2021 Dakar runs from 2-15 January and you can catch daily updates at Red Bull TV from 5am AEDT or on SBS from 5.30pm AEDT.
