Sanders penalised, first stage in Brabec
The Australian motorcyclist Daniel Sanders (GasGas), who had won the first stage of the Dakar today, received a two-minute penalty and is therefore relegated in the classification of the day. So success went to American Ricky Brabec (Honda). Come Sanders, also the Chilean Paul Quintanilla (Honda) and Spanish Joan Barreda (Honda) were fined for not taking into account the speed limits indicated in the roadbook. This is normal speed and not exceeding the 160 km/h set as the maximum speed, according to what Aso, the organizer of the rally-raid, specified. Sanders and Quintilla were each penalized by two minutes (speed between 20 and 40 km/h), Barreda by one minute (over and under 20 km/h). According to the still provisional classification of the stage, Brabec obtained the victory of the day, ahead of the Argentine Kevin Benavides (KTM) and American style Freemason Klein (KTM). This first stage, a ring that starts from the shores of the Red Sea and crosses for 368 km alternating sandy and stony terrain, was also marked by the abandonment of the reigning champion, the British Sam Sunderland. The 33-year-old ‘centaur’ stopped after a fall at km 52.