Frenchman Mathieu Baumel hailed an “enormous triumph” as he won the opening stage of the Dakar Rally alongside Belgian driver Guillaume De Mevius on Sunday, just a year after having his leg amputated.
The 49-year-old navigator was back at the race just 11 months after his right lower leg was amputated following an accident in France, where he was run over while helping someone who had broken down on the road.
‘Just being here is an enormous triumph’
“Just being here is an enormous triumph,” said Baumel, who got into his car on Sunday carrying his prosthetic limb.
Last January, it had looked as if life behind the wheel was in the past for the successful co-driver and navigator, who had previously won the Dakar Rally four times as co-pilot to Nasser Al-Attiyah, most recently claiming back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.
Driving a Mini, the pair won the perilous 305km first stage at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, literally coming out of nowhere to steal victory after a transponder glitch had seen them disappear from the timing screens earlier in the stage.
De Mevius, sitting atop the leaderboard at the finish line, admitted he was surprised by the victory.
“It wasn’t particularly the objective to win today, but we said to ourselves with Mathieu (Baumel) that we wanted to at least win one of the Dakar stages,” he said after the stoney and dusty ride.
Ford Raptor dominance falters in final sector
The stage had initially appeared to be a Factory Ford Raptor benefit, with German Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist dominating proceedings and leading at the halfway mark alongside fellow Raptor crews Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz, and Nani Roma and Álex Haro.
However, Ekström slowed in the final sector, allowing Qatari Al-Attiyah to move ahead in his Dacia, finishing just 40 seconds behind the winners. Czech Martin Prokop of Ford claimed third place, 1 minute 30 seconds off the pace, whilst Ekström held on for fourth, just ahead of Polish SVR Hilux privateers Marek Goczal and Maciej Marton.
Four-time Dakar winner Sainz and Cruz finished fifth in their Factory Ford Raptor, ahead of top South African Guy Botterill and Spaniard Oriol Mena’s SVR Gazoo Hilux in sixth.
South African contingent shows promise
The South African contingent showed encouraging form, with Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet’s SVR Hilux finishing 13th after running in the top ten for most of the day. Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings’ Overdrive version finished 17th, whilst Century Factory CR-7 crews included South Africans Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer.
French driver Sébastien Loeb finished 10th in his Dacia, losing three minutes with a puncture after also leading the field earlier in the stage.
Penalties shake up standings
Reigning Dakar champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi was the day’s biggest loser, with the Saudi driver receiving a 16-minute penalty for missing a crossing point.
The starting positions clearly benefited crews starting around tenth and behind, as leading cars struggled to open the road. First away, Lategan and Cummings languished towards the back of the top 20.
Branch penalty hands motorcycle victory to Canet
In the motorcycle category, Spain’s Edgar Canet claimed stage victory after Botswana’s Ross Branch received a six-minute penalty for speeding in a restricted zone.
Branch, the 2024 World Champion and former multiple South African Cross Country Champion, had dominated the first official bike stage aboard his Hero Moto 450 Rally, leading by more than a minute before the penalty dropped him to seventh.
Canet, who had already won the prologue, now leads Australia’s Daniel Sanders by just over a minute in the overall standings, with American Ricky Brabec third.
South African success in Rally 2
South African Michael Docherty made no mistakes to win the amateur Rally 2 class on his BAS KTM 450, finishing ninth overall after a close battle with Portuguese Honda Factory rookie Martim Ventura.
Fellow South African Bradley Cox from Durban finished among the Factory Sherco riders, whilst Ronald Venter was running 88th on his KTM at the time of writing.
Stage 2 heads to AlUla
On Monday, competitors will tackle their first big day of racing, heading towards AlUla after more than 500km, with 400km individually timed.
Sunday’s positions represent the overall Dakar standings as the world’s most challenging rally continues through Saudi Arabia’s unforgiving terrain.
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