Stage 1 - Drivers Quotes

Marc Coma:

Happy New Year, everyone! The first special was breathtaking: next to the seaside and with beautiful little dunes. It really was a fantastic warm-up. But we still have a long day ahead of us, with a lengthy liaison.

Cyril Despress:

I am happy to start, to ride my motorcycle, to see my roadbook and notes again... I just need to get used to it again... I took this special quite cautiously because there were a lot of potholes, fesh-fesh, dust... and spectators, so I kept it cool at the beginning!

Francisco "chaleco" Lopez:

I did not get off to a very fast start this morning, since the first part of the special stage was quite tough, with all the dunes and all those spectators. Moreover, the first special of the Dakar is always more challenging, since you need to find your focus on the race, and the new GPS is somewhat smaller, so I really was very careful. Fortunately, the special's last 20 kilometres were very fast and I was able to drive much more aggressively.

Krzysztof Hołowczyc:

Nothing special, we just maintained a fast pace, no problems at all, and our Mini did the rest! This is going to make things easier for us. When approaching the dunes, we asked ourselves: "How is it going to work out?", but the car almost climbs them by itself! What bliss!

Robby Gordon:

We were setting a fast pace until we saw Nasser stopped at the side of the special's course, less than 2 km from here, and I stopped to tow him. This has cost us some time, but I am especially concerned about him. We will make the exact diagnosis at the bivouac, but his car simply refuses to start. Perhaps there is a problem with the oil pressure, the petrol... I do not know.

Stephane Peterhansel:

The course was nice, with beautiful, large dunes on the seaside. Magnificent... Apart from that, we had a technical, somewhat humpy course with traces of the passing of the motorbikes, which created waves... But it was a great compromise to warm up, with a fast end of the special... All in all, an excellent warm-up

Leonid Novitskiy:

Today's special was very short, so we put the pedal on the metal, especially in the sandy sector. We only found another car on the course, but I was able to overtake it without any problems. In short: a good result for a perfect day!

Al Attiyah:

We had an engine oil pressure loss and preferred to wait for Robby to tow us to the finish, since we did not want to damage the engine... We will see, but this does not look good... And, whatever happens, this is not a good way to start the Dakar!

Marcel Van Vliet:

I am happy to win the first stage, since I hoped to start the race this way. We will see how things go from here. This is just the first stage, only 60 km long, and the race is obviously still very long. But, because we are a young team, people are not so focused on us as they are on the other big teams, but I think they will keep an eye on us too from now on.

Davis Casteu:

The start of the special was awesome, with dunes on the seaside. Amazing! The special was beautiful, with technical sections, dunes and a fast finish. A good warm-up... But when I was crossing a river, next to a field, a bug bit me again, just under my cheek! I hope everything will be OK... You will see me deformed again... The first days of the Dakar are definitely not my lucky days!

Gerard De Rooy:

In the final part of the special I ran into the dust raised by Nikolaev and Loprais. I actually was right behind them before the final long straight, but I had to let them go because I could not see a thing. I could have posted a far better time, but I am very happy all the same.

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