Reinaldo Varela has claimed the first stage of the 2021 Dakar. The Brazilian winner of the 2018 edition beat Austin Jones by 28 seconds and ‘Chaleco’ López by 42. Last year’s runner-up, Sergey Karyakin, was off the pace and finished in fifth place, losing over three minutes and finishing behind Gerard Farrés.
Meanwhile, Cristina Gutiérrez produced a flawless performance on the road to Bisha and left the competition in the dust in the lightweight prototype category. The young driver beat Josef Macháček by 16’34’ and Seth Quintero by 18’22’ to become the first female Dakar stage winner since Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2005!
By: Official Dakar website
