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Audi dominates Dakar prologue with Carlos Sainz sixth

MADRID, 31 Dic.

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Audi dominates Dakar prologue with Carlos Sainz sixth

MADRID, 31 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The 2023 Dakar Rally is already a reality after the prologue stage at the 'Sea Camp' in Saudi Arabia, dominated by Audi in cars thanks to the ground Mattias Ekstrom, who is the first leader, and with the Spanish Carlos Sainz sixth, while in motos was imposed by the double winner of the test Toby Price, with Joan Barreda fourth to 9 seconds.

Team Audi Sport started this Dakar 2023 very strong, placing three of its drivers in the top six. The fastest, in the 13-kilometre special at 'Sea Camp', was the Swede Mattias Ekstrom, who took 1 second from the French Sebastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) and 11 from the Frenchman, and fellow Scandinavian, Stéphane Peterhansel .

Fourth, 12 seconds behind, was Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing leader), with Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit (GKC Motorsport) fifth (13 behind) and just ahead of Spanish Carlos Sainz (Audi), with 14 seconds. seconds lost to Ekstrom.

Despite the fact that he could not overcome his teammates, the man from Madrid (together with his co-driver Lucas Cruz) will be able to avoid starting in the top 4 in the first stage this Sunday, since the 'Top 10' chooses the starting position (between those top ten drivers) and will have four drivers behind in that pick.

In this prologue, Óscar Fuertes (Astara Team) was 24th with 45 seconds lost in the special on the shores of the Red Sea, with his teammate Laia Sanz 27th (49 seconds away), while Cristina Gutiérrez entered just behind Sanz and ahead of Isidre Esteve (Repsol Toyota), 29th, 49 seconds behind Ekstrom.

On the other hand, in the motorcycle category, the Australian Toby Price (KTM) stopped the clock in 8:22 minutes and was a second better than his compatriot Daniel Sanders (GasGas), with the Botswana Ross Branch (Hero) third, 9 behind. seconds.

The best Spaniard was Joan Barreda (Monster Energy JB Team), fourth, 9 seconds behind, the same time lost by the Argentine Kevin Benavides (KTM), fifth. For his part, Tosha Schareina (KTM) was 16th and Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) finished the prologue in 24th position, with Joan Pedrero (Rieju) 33rd, already 33 seconds behind.