Last year’s race winner rolled his car after the 373-kilometre split time, losing about 20 minutes. Unfortunately for the Spanish veteran, the next service is not until Monday evening, following a 48-hour and nearly 1,000-kilometre marathon stage.
Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz were able to continue, but with a car that looked rather battered.
Like Ford, Dacia made its debut in desert rallies at this year’s Dakar Rally, but things have not gotten off to a smooth start. Sébastien Loeb lost over 40 minutes on Saturday due to an electrical issue with his car. The French rally legend was forced to stop after 400 kilometres and soon again after that. It’s likely that Loeb and co-driver Fabian Lurquin will have plenty to investigate during the night hours to get the car working properly for Sunday.
“We are waiting for more details, but we think we have identified an electronic issue. It is a tough diagnosis to make without telemetry or engineers on site to carry out our processes, but Sébastien managed to get going again. He is still in the race and that is the main thing,” told Tiphanie Isnard, team principal for the Dacia Sandriders.
On Sunday, drivers were required to complete just over half of the full stage, approximately 600 kilometres. After that, they selected designated spots on the desert to camp overnight. On Monday morning, the day begins again at around seven o’clock with the second half of the marathon stage.
The Dakar Rally demands survival skills, as drivers camp on the desert in military-style tents. Each driver pairing receives a ration pack containing muesli, biscuits, soup, energy bars, and hot drinks.
Before the overnight break on Saturday, the fastest driver was Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi, who beat the rally’s multiple-time winner, Nasser Al-Attiyah, by just under a minute. Sweden’s Mattias Ekström was the third fastest of the day. As mentioned, the second stage is still ongoing, so the final results will only be available on Monday.
Sainz lost about an hour to the leaders on Saturday, while Loeb ultimately lost just over half an hour. The second stage continues on Monday, after which the cars will return to the city of Bisha in southwestern Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday, the race will feature a stage of nearly 500 kilometres from Bisha to Al Henakiyah.
