Airohriders at start of the 2021 Dakar Rally

The opening day of the 2021 Dakar Rally presented riders with a 623km stage, including 277km of timed special.

Sam Sunderland: “It was a really tricky stage today with some extremely technical sections – rocks upon rocks – and you had no choice but to trickle through in first gear. Overall, I feel happy with my performance, I caught a bit of dust in the first part, but I suppose with setting off 27th that was always going to happen. Working my way through to fourth at the finish is really encouraging though. Getting the road books just 20 minutes from the start makes things the same for everyone, but also makes our overall strategy difficult to gauge this early on. I’m setting off fourth tomorrow, so hopefully I can make up a little more time.”

Dakar 2021, Stage 1

4. Sam Sunderland (KTM)

5. Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco)

20. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna)

27. Rui Gonçalves (Sherco)

31. Harith Noah (Sherco)

32. Jaume Betriu (KTM)

credits: press.ktm.com

follow: Airoh Helmet Racing