Dakar Rally: Al-Attiyah leads, trouble for Roma, Peugeot off pace
Nasser Al-Attiyah leads the 2015 Dakar Rally after day one, while Peugeot made a cautious start and last year's winner Nani Roma's hopes of another victory ended immediately
Although two of the nine Minis entered by X-raid reached Villa Carlos Paz in first and second with Al-Attiyah and team-mate Orlando Terranova, Roma's example came to a halt just a few miles from the Buenos Aires start.
Roma had to wait on the stage for technical assistance, losing over six hours to the leaders and all realistic chance of back-to-back wins.
Argentinean crowd favourite Terranova trails Al-Attiyah by 22 seconds after the first stage in his homeland, while Robby Gordon - who has had opening day disasters on the last two Dakars - fared much better this time and holds third.
Peugeot's factory Dakar return got off to a quiet start, with Carlos Sainz and Stephane Peterhansel driving conservatively in eighth and 10th places, feeling the relatively quick 106-mile stage did not suit the two-wheel-drive 2008 DKR as well as others ahead will.
Their team-mate Cyril Despres is already 10 minutes off the pace as he begins his transition from the motorcycle category to tackling the event in a car.
LEADING POSITIONS AFTER STAGE ONE:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orlando Terranova | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 1h13m12.s |
| 2 | Robby Gordon | Speed Energy Racing | HST/Chevrolet | 42.s |
| 3 | Giniel de Villiers | Toyota Imperial Team South Africa | Toyota | 50.s |
| 4 | Krzysztof Holowczyc | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 54.s |
| 5 | Emiliano Spataro | Renault | 56.s | |
| 6 | Bernhard Ten Brinke | Overdrive Toyota | Toyota | 1m16.s |
| 7 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Qatar Rally Team | Mini/BMW | 1m38.s |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Team Peugeot Total | Peugeot | 1m44.s |
| 9 | Erik van Loon | Xdakar | Mini/BMW | 1m58.s |
| 10 | Stephane Peterhansel | Team Peugeot Total | Peugeot | 2m13.s |
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