Brabec wins Dakar Stage 1 | Price P3 & Sanders P5

2023 Dakar Rally – Stage 1
Sea Camp – Sea Camp

It was a good start to the 2023 Dakar Rally for Monster Energy Honda Team’s Ricky Brabec who inherited the Stage win after Aussie Daniel Sanders was hit with a two minute penalty for speeding, knocking him down the opening stage rankings.

Fellow Australian Toby Price put in a strong performance to kick off his Dakar in the first full stage, after claiming the Prologue win by a second from Sanders yesterday, heading into Stage 2 in third, behind second-placed Kevin Benavides.

Stage one at the Dakar Rally 2023 brought 369 kilometers of special action throughout sandy and stony tracks, with start point and arrival at the Sea Camp bivouac – close to Yanbu (South Arabia).

Joan Barreda leaves Stage 1 in fourth after also receiving a penalty – one-minute, with Sanders fifth due to his two-minute penalty, Sanders demonstrating he’s comfortable running a leading pace.

It was disappointment for fellow GASGAS rider Sam Sunderland, whose race came to a premature and frustrating end, the Brit crashing just 52 kilometers into stage one.

Leading the special briefly before the incident, the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing star was airlifted to hospital in Yanbu where he was diagnosed with a broken shoulder blade. Back pain after the crash necessitated the airlift out.

Sam Sunderland – Withdrawn

“Thank you for all the kind messages, I am more or less ok, a broken shoulder blade, big hematoma on my back and a concussion, I feel quite embarrassed to be laid here typing this out, being out of Dakar on day one is a tough pill to swallow, I want to first express my disappointment for my team who have worked so hard to give me the tools to defend this number 1 and deserve much more, also to my partners that support me. These moments are what make the victories so special, I felt really good this morning and was leading for the short part of the stage I rode then I have missed a stone under the sand in a river bed and had a pretty violent crash. Thank you Matthias Walkner for stopping to help me and to the Dakar Rally medical crew for making sure I was safe. I will try to learn from this and I hope my teammates can bring home the result the team deserve. Thank you.”

Outside the top-five the rankings heading into Stage 2 see Mason Klein in sixth, followed by Pablo Quintanilla, Adrien Van Beveren, Skyler Howes and Matthias Walkner.

Ricky Brabec – P1

“Goal number one was not to open the stage. I feel quite well and confident after today, but I will just try to go day by day, keep pace and stay in the Top 10. It’s going to be hard to be out of the lead – like we saw today – but we have to see how it goes until the rest day. Today was fairly simple, no stress, it was a great day!”

Kevin Benavides – P2

“I had a good day today – it’s always encouraging to start the rally with a strong result. It felt like a very long day, but I think every day leading up to the rest day will be similar. I’m happy with my result, I came second, but less than a minute or so behind the stage winner. It doesn’t give me the best start position for tomorrow, but I’ll aim to chase down the guy ahead. Overall, I’m happy to get the rally underway and looking forward to the rest of the race.”

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Toby Price – P3

“Stage one has gone ok for me. I saw Sam (Sunderland) had crashed out at around kilometer 70, and it’s never good to see one of your mates go down like that. After that I just focused on my road book and made sure I didn’t make any big mistakes on the way to the finish. It’s a long race and we have a very long way to go. My goal right now is to say safe and consistent.”

Daniel Sanders – P5

“It’s been a long old year since I’ve raced and it was great to be back out there today. Early on I caught up to Kevin Benavides and for most of the stage we just rode together, clicking off the kilometers. I really enjoyed the terrain. It was my first proper stage on the new generation bike, so everything was quite new for me today and it was great to get a decent stage result in early. I’m so pumped to be back here at the Dakar and I’m looking forward to taking each day as it comes.”

Pablo Quintanilla – P7

“We have started the morning with fast valleys and river beds with many stones, so the first section was quite challenging. I enjoyed the second part, after the first neutralization where we had faster tracks and sand in the open desert. I felt good, quite fast and with a good rhythm.”

Adrien Van Beveren – P8

“At the beginning of the stage I was struggling to look at the stones kind of hidden in the sand. In the second part of the stage I was really better – I am happy with my performance and want to keep riding this way along the rally.”

Skyler Howes – P9

“Honestly, I was quite nervous heading into stage one today. You spend the whole year preparing for this event, and starting out today, I had a lot of butterflies. It was a little stressful at first because I knew I would be right near the front, but the rider ahead did a great job of opening the stage, so I was able to relax a little. I made a couple of small mistakes with my navigation, but apart from that, the day went really well. The Dakar is all about managing whatever is thrown at you and so I’m happy with how the race has started – the bike feels great, I have a good start position for tomorrow and I’m excited to continue.”

Matthias Walkner – P10

“That was a really tough stage, especially as I haven’t raced for such a long time. My day didn’t have a great start either after finding Sam (Sunderland) crashed in one of the extremely rocky river sections. It’s never good to see a friend in a situation like that. I stayed with Sam until the medics arrived and after that I was just out there on my own. It was difficult to gauge my pace and so I aimed for a good solid finish. The bike is working really well, I just need to continue doing my best and taking each day as it comes.”

Luciano Benavides – P14

“Day one has not been the best for me. Things were going well, and I was feeling good on the bike, but around kilometre 55 I made a small mistake and missed one piste. That ended up in me circling around to find my way again. Unfortunately, it meant I lost almost 10 minutes and had to find my focus again. I managed to up my pace on the second half of the stage and get some time back. But as we know at Dakar, it’s a very long race and these things happen. Thankfully, to take some positives from the day, the bike performed really well, and I felt comfortable pushing hard. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

José Ignacio Cornejo – P15

“Today was a day that could have gone really bad, because I had to open the stage. I did my best and in the end the outcome was great. I liked the navigation, I was not too confident because when you are you can make mistakes – so that was a good spirit and way to face these circumstances.”

The second stage from this year’s Dakar Rally will leave the Sea Camp in the direction of Al-Ula. This special stage will have 430 kilometers of closed tracks demanding great handling skills, so riders will get mainly dirt tracks (59%), stones (26%) and just a little taste of sand (14% sand tracks and one percent of dunes).

Besides this competitive section, there is also another 159 kilometers of liaison. Navigation will be key as participants reach the splendid canyons and beautiful landscapes near the finish.

According to the ASO organisation, the stage will be decided on the dunes, with some of the majestic Nabataean temples visible on the landscape.

2023 Dakar Rally Stage 1 Overall Rankings

2023 Dakar Rally Stage 1 Provisional Result

2023 Dakar Rally Schedule