Dmitry Sotnikov is the winner of the first stage. The Kamaz driver got stronger as the kilometres went by and finished almost eight minutes ahead of Aleš Loprais’s Praga and Anton Shibalov’s Kamaz. Ayrat Mardeev ended up conceding 25 minutes after leading the race for part of the stage.
Meanwhile, after dominating the 2020 Dakar from A to Z, Andrey Karginov’s start to the 2021 edition couldn’t have been more different. The Kamaz driver has been working on his truck for almost an hour and a half and could well be waving goodbye to his chances of retaining the title in Jeddah.
Stage ranking – Truck :
1 – DMITRY SOTNIKOV / RUSLAN AKHMADEEV / ILGIZ AKHMETZIANOV (KAMAZ – MASTER )
2 – ALES LOPRAIS / PETR POKORA / KHALID ALKENDI (INSTAFOREX LOPRAIS PRAGA)
3 – ANTON SHIBALOV / DMITRII NIKITIN / IVAN TATARINOV (KAMAZ – MASTER )
By: Official Dakar website
