Sanders third in 2021 Dakar Prologue | Price ninth

Sanders third in 2021 Dakar Prologue | Price ninth

Dakar Rally 2021 – Prologue


Today saw the Dakar Rally 2021 kick off with the prologue, Maurizio Gerini marking the first biker to enter the 11km stage travelling from Jeddah to Jeddah, however it was last year’s winner Ricky Brabec who stamped his authority on the day.

Ricky Brabec

“Today was good. Pretty short – just a ten-kilometre prologue. Nothing to really lose or nothing to gain. Just enough to shake the bugs out of the bike and the body. We’re now ready for the actual start. Tomorrow we start nice and early. We came away with first and second place in the prologue for me and Joan. So tomorrow Joan and I will open the way and hopefully it will go well. It’s a long race but I think strategy will start to play in, but as of now, it’s time to get lunch, get the gear off and time to focus.”

Ricky Brabec proved the man to beat topping the 2021 Dakar prologue

Joan Barreda looked like an early shoo-in for the win, with Aussie Daniel Sanders in close proximity, however Brabec proved fastest overall, just 13-seconds separating the top three.

Daniel Sanders third in Dakar 2021 Prologue – Image by Rally Zone

Joan Barreda was actually the first of the favourites to get to grips with the motorbike special, with the occasion marking his eleventh Dakar, boasting 17 stage wins under his belt, showing immediate speed. He was outpaced by Brabec by six-seconds, with Sanders a further seven-seconds in arrears.

Joan Barreda

“I am happy with this first day. It was a pretty quick prologue and it wasn’t easy. The first part was in an open river and it was complicated because we had to validate each note within an 80-metre radius. From there we entered a very stony mountainous area which was very quick and quite difficult. I hesitated over some of the Roadbook validations but didn’t really waste too much time. I am quite happy with this first contact.”

Joan Barreda

The 2020 Dakar champion, Ricky Brabec, was of course the last biker to start the special, but that proved no hurdle.

Ross Branch was fourth fastest, followed by Sebastian Buhler, Andrew Short, Kevin Benavides, Pablo Quintanilla and then Australian Toby Price in ninth 22s off pace, with Joaquim Rodrigues completing the top 10. Price’s teammates, Matthias Walkner and Sam Sunderland both also finished within a minute of the leader.

Toby Price was 22s off pace for the Dakar 2021 prologue – Image by Rally Zone

Michael Burgess was the next fastest Australian in 39th, 1m14s off leading pace, while Joseph Houlihan came home in 72th, 2m46s off the leader.

Sunday, sees the first stage of the Dakar 2021, which will be contested entirely on-track between Jeddah and Bisha. Competitors can expect 277 kilometres of special timed out of a 622-kilometre total trek. The route will pass through several valleys with several sections requiring deft roadbook reading skills. Some of the stony sections could prove detrimental to the tyres.


2021 Dakar Rally – Prologue Results

Pos Rider Nat. Man. Time Gap
1 R. BRABEC USA HONDA 000:06:01
2 J. BARREDA BORT ESP HONDA 000:06:07 0:00:06
3 D. SANDERS AUS KTM 000:06:14 0:00:13
4 R. BRANCH BWA YAMAHA 000:06:15 0:00:14
5 S. BÜHLER DEU HERO 000:06:17 0:00:16
6 A. SHORT USA YAMAHA 000:06:18 0:00:17
7 K. BENAVIDES ARG HONDA 000:06:21 0:00:20
8 P. QUINTANILLA CHL HUSQVARNA 000:06:23 0:00:22
9 T. PRICE AUS KTM 000:06:23 0:00:22
10 J. RODRIGUES PRT HERO 000:06:24 0:00:23
11 J. MCCANNEY GBR YAMAHA 000:06:24 0:00:23
12 M. GIEMZA POL HUSQVARNA 000:06:27 0:00:26
13 S. HOWES USA KTM 000:06:28 0:00:27
14 F. CAIMI ARG YAMAHA 000:06:30 0:00:29
15 L. BENAVIDES ARG HUSQVARNA 000:06:30 0:00:29
16 L. SANTOLINO ESP SHERCO FACTORY 000:06:32 0:00:31
17 A. VAN BEVEREN FRA YAMAHA 000:06:33 0:00:32
18 M. WALKNER AUT KTM 000:06:33 0:00:32
19 X. DE SOULTRAIT FRA HUSQVARNA 000:06:35 0:00:34
20 R. GONCALVES PRT SHERCO FACTORY 000:06:36 0:00:35
21 S. SVITKO SVK KTM 000:06:38 0:00:37
22 O. MENA ESP KTM 000:06:39 0:00:38
23 A. TOMICZEK POL HUSQVARNA 000:06:41 0:00:40
24 M. MICHEK CZE KTM 000:06:41 0:00:40
25 JI. CORNEJO FLORIMO CHL HONDA 000:06:51 0:00:50
39 M. BURGESS AUS KTM 000:07:15 0:01:14
72 AJ. HOULIHAN AUS KTM 000:08:47 0:02:46

2021 Dakar Schedule

Stage Date Start > Finish Total Special
P Saturday, January 2, 2021 Jeddah > Jeddah 11 km 11 km
1 Sunday, January 3, 2021 Jeddah > Bisha 622 km 277 km
2 Monday, January 4, 2021 Bisha > Wadi Al Dawasir 685 km 457 km
3 Tuesday, January 5, 2021 Wadi Al Dawasir > Wadi Al Dawasir 630 km 403 km
4 Wednesday, January 6, 2021 Wadi Al Dawasir > Riyadh 813 km 337 km
5 Thursday, January 7, 2021 Riyadh > Buraydah 625 km 419 km
6 Friday, January 8, 2021 Buraydah > Ha’il 655 km 485 km
Rest Saturday, January 9, 2021 Ha’il (Rest Day)
7 Sunday, January 10, 2021 Ha’il > Sakaka 737 km 471 km
8 Monday, January 11, 2021 Sakaka > Neom 709 km 375 km
9 Tuesday, January 12, 2021 Neom > Neom 579 km 465 km
10 Wednesday, January 13, 2021 Neom > Al-Ula 583 km 342 km
11 Thursday, January 14, 2021 Al-Ula > Yanbu 557 km 511 km
12 Friday, January 15, 2021 Yanbu > Jeddah 452 km 225 km

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