In the official race on the first day of the 2022 Dakar Rally, Toyota's veteran Attia led the way to win the championship. Many drivers, including the previous champion Peter Hansel, encountered problems such as navigation and racing failures, and their results were not good.
Peter Hansel, who was aiming to defend his title, basically lost the chance to defend his title after the first day of racing, and the Frenchman lost several hours of time due to a broken car shaft.
Saturday's rehearsal was just an appetizer, and Sunday ushered in the main course of Dakar. The total length of this stage is 514 km, of which 333 km is timed. The terrain of the competition is changeable this day, and the first detection point is sandy.
After 130 kilometers, the road surface is more undulating and there are many stone roads. Riders need to drive between hills and small valleys. The final track includes sand dunes up to 200 meters high, which shows how difficult the race is.
The Audi regiment is gone
The biggest problem for drivers comes from navigation, but there are other uncertainties. Today was a bad day for the Audi team, with defending champion Peter Hansel suffering misfortune.
The Dakar record holder damaged the rear axle, the left rear tire burst, and his car had to stop at 153 km and wait for the arrival of the rear auxiliary truck, which was several hours.
Other Audi drivers also performed poorly, with Extrøm an hour and a half behind Atia through the finish line and veteran Sainz more than two hours behind.
Atia led the way
On the first day of the race, Atiya and Loeb led the other drivers, and after three and a half hours of racing, Atiya led Loeb by nearly 13 minutes to seal the first day of victory.
Atiyah said: "Unbelievable because it was a very difficult stage. I thought today's game could be easier. Mathieu did a great job of navigating the second section, there was a stretch of road where we went too far to the right and then he told me I should stay on the left. ”
"At the next sign we knew we had chosen the right one, and then we ran to the finish line with Loeb. Toyota racing is great and the T1 brings me a lot of fun. ”
Atiyah, who won the title for two consecutive days, also maintained the overall lead.