00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Happy New Year and happy new Dakar.
00:09 It's 2024, Dakar 46, and I'm back for another year
00:13 to bring you the most banging, kick-ass, juiciest, hardcore,
00:17 and light-hearted highlights this side
00:19 of the Arabian Peninsula.
00:20 Strap in for three weeks of Saudi sand and desert dust.
00:24 It's Dakar time.
00:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:28 But before the real fun can begin,
00:30 there was scrutineering for all the vehicles
00:32 and the obligatory media duties for the competitors.
00:35 And don't they just love it?
00:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:40 The enthusiasm is overwhelming.
00:45 Carlos, Pablo, AJ, Kevin, all the big boys
00:48 are here perfecting their celebrations.
00:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:55 [SPEAKING SPANISH]
00:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:01 Some have had lots of wins here already, some not so many.
01:04 Some have won overall and over and over,
01:10 and some have always wanted to but never have.
01:13 New faces, new teams, and new jumpsuits,
01:16 and now we're good to go.
01:22 Start camp this year is in Al-Ula
01:24 in the northwest of Saudi Arabia,
01:26 a crossroads of early civilizations
01:28 and a site of huge importance in the history of humanity.
01:31 It's a breathtaking mix of sand-swept dunes
01:34 and dramatic rock formations, where old meets
01:37 new in perfect harmony.
01:39 And it's in this land, steeped in tales of bravery,
01:42 bloodshed, and conquest, where the latest hero stories
01:45 will start to be written.
01:47 Welcome to Dakar 46.
01:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:55 The Dakar for me is the most ultimate adventure
02:12 you can possibly have.
02:15 We start with a prologue, just 27K, a little warm-up
02:18 ride around the block.
02:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:23 Really special about riding a bike high-speed
02:28 through the desert.
02:29 The feeling, it's-- yeah, you can't explain it to someone.
02:32 I love racing.
02:36 I love competition.
02:37 And I also like the adventure.
02:38 This is like the best adventure riding.
02:44 The atmosphere is amazing and can't wait to get going.
02:47 For some of bikes biggest names, the last year
02:49 has been a rocky road and not the chewy chocolate kind.
02:53 Broken bones for Howes, Klein, Sanders, Sunderland, Valtner,
02:56 and even reigning champion Kevin Benavides.
03:00 It was nice landscape, but you know the fact
03:02 that the other riders start in front of us.
03:05 The navigation was so tricky, so many change of direction
03:08 that makes it really tricky.
03:10 But I'm OK.
03:12 French superstar AVB has finished on the World
03:14 Championship podium the last two years,
03:16 but still craves a first Dakar title.
03:19 He sand surfed this morning on his way to a fourth place.
03:22 There was one moment where I came back.
03:28 I saw the stakes were supposed to come through,
03:30 so I cut back to go through them and hit one camel grass
03:33 and had the big crash.
03:35 And then my road book stopped working, so I had no road book.
03:38 And then because I had no road book,
03:39 I was more or less following the tracks that
03:41 were going all over the place.
03:43 Last year, Skyler Howes found his way into our hearts.
03:46 This year, he's already found his way into the grass.
03:48 Not a complete disaster, but a five-minute deficit,
03:51 not the start the mustachioed man from Utah was hoping for.
03:56 It's like a motocross track for 27 Ks,
03:58 and then some tracks are going right,
04:00 some tracks are going wrong.
04:01 So I just had some fun, and I enjoyed it.
04:04 It was nice, sandy, exactly what I like from Botswana.
04:07 Ross Branch is almost always smiling,
04:09 and the Motswana was certainly happy with third today.
04:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:17 It was definitely a rough one.
04:23 There was a lot of traffic before,
04:25 and the sand was really soft and a lot of camel grass,
04:28 so it was really rough.
04:29 Really hard on my femur, which wasn't good.
04:33 After breaking it in May, Daniel Sanders, the colonel,
04:36 would have preferred his femur looking good,
04:37 rather than frying his thigh in something
04:39 crunchy on the opening day.
04:41 Nonetheless, his secret blend meant a solid second
04:43 for the Aussie.
04:44 But top spot went to Spain.
04:46 I feel good.
04:47 The bike felt really, really good.
04:48 And yeah, more difficult than we expected for the prologue.
04:53 But yeah, I think this is the Dakar,
04:55 this is the main event of the year.
04:57 So yeah, happy and focused for tomorrow.
05:00 Tosca Scherena has finished 13th in both his previous Dakar
05:03 outings, but had no bad luck today.
05:06 The bikes category looks as wide open as the desert plains.
05:09 The Valenciano leads by 12 seconds from Sanders,
05:12 with Branche just behind.
05:13 And the top 10 is made up of some very familiar names.
05:16 These times do count for the overall.
05:19 Riders in the original BiMotul category
05:21 have red numbers and no support crews.
05:23 The real pioneers and the real spirit of the Dakar,
05:26 leading them after today's prologue,
05:28 Austrian rookie Tobias Ebstack.
05:32 Onto four wheels now, and the quads category
05:34 is severely depleted this year, just 10 on the start list.
05:37 On top of the prologue pops Argentine Francisco Moreno.
05:42 Age-old landscapes, age-old monuments, age-old tombs,
05:46 an age-old event, and the same age-old problems
05:49 for some of the cars.
05:50 Oh, it will be a difficult day, because we have only
05:54 two-wheel drive, so we will see how it works.
05:58 Something tells me these guys won't
06:00 be having the same issues.
06:01 We didn't know before if we want to push
06:06 to win the 10 first cars and to choose the position,
06:09 or if it's more safe to be behind.
06:12 Five-time champion Nasser Al-Attir is once again favorite,
06:15 but Seb Loeb dreams of taking his crown.
06:17 So how hard to push on today's potential banana
06:20 skin of a prologue?
06:21 Finally, we decided to go for it, to push,
06:23 and hopefully the time will be good.
06:26 Having finished second three times in seven appearances,
06:29 Loeb says the Dakar has become his obsession.
06:32 He and co-driver Fabien Lecun were third today.
06:35 Just behind sensational Seth Quintero.
06:37 I just didn't want to play any games.
06:43 I just wanted to go out and drive, and that's what we did.
06:45 And right now we're sitting second,
06:47 so it feels super good to be against the greatest
06:49 in the world, the greatest that have ever done it,
06:51 and to be competitive with them.
06:53 Go out and drive seems like an excellent strategy to me,
06:56 Seth.
06:56 Good plan.
06:57 Second for Seth as Matthias mastered the prologue
06:59 with co-driver Emil Bergqvist.
07:02 We had a clean run.
07:03 Emil did a fantastic job.
07:04 It was difficult navigation, many junctions,
07:07 so I was happy with our job.
07:10 Stéphane Pére-Hansel missed a turn but came in seventh.
07:13 Nasser Al-Attiyah also ignored the sat-nav
07:15 in his new pro-drive Hunter, finished 12th, a minute down.
07:18 So what's the best strategy for tomorrow?
07:20 Either you finish top three, or if that doesn't work out,
07:27 you have to be after tenth today.
07:28 [SPEAKING FRENCH]
07:31 Top ten, the faster, he will choose the ten,
07:33 and we are always behind them.
07:36 The first stage is super hard.
07:38 It's long with lots of stones, and nobody wants to open.
07:41 [SPEAKING FRENCH]
07:44 12th, I think it's the best start position.
07:49 Today we had a bit of a stumble.
07:51 I hope the consequences won't be too bad.
07:54 We'll see.
07:55 T3 time now, and it's all changed this year.
07:57 No longer are they called that, nor buggies, or even
08:00 lightweight prototypes.
08:01 Now they're the challengers, and they
08:03 include Eric Gottschall, last year's T4 winner.
08:06 I know with Dakar just around the corner,
08:08 these athletes can't have a big blowout on New Year's Eve,
08:10 but I'm not sure day one of the race is the best time either.
08:13 It was the first kilometers I've been
08:18 waiting for the whole year.
08:20 I think it was more selective with the tougher terrain,
08:22 but also the views, everything was
08:24 excellent about this prologue.
08:27 There's a very familiar name at the peak of the prologue pile,
08:29 Eric Gottschall.
08:31 I said a familiar name, not an easy to pronounce one.
08:33 He moved up a class, but continued where he left off.
08:37 And it was a historic day for Xavier de Soultre,
08:39 who took a first Dakar success on four wheels
08:42 after winning on two back in 2019.
08:44 Not too shabby for Happy Chavvy.
08:48 Overall victory last year in the trucks
08:50 went to the Dutch-Polish crew of Janis van Kasteren.
08:53 And Janis was the boss again today
08:55 in his appropriately named Boss Machinery Tentana.
08:58 A very recognizable top 10 with the Martins, Maciek,
09:01 and Van den Brink both on the 2023 podium.
09:05 It's pretty open, but it's not just a question of speed.
09:09 We always try to make sure all the ingredients of rally
09:11 rider, their navigation, endurance, speed.
09:14 And I believe we have a nice balance.
09:16 Now it's up to them.
09:18 It's the most wonderful time of the year
09:20 with the bike spindle spinning and everyone
09:23 driving their trucks and their cars.
09:25 It's the time to enjoy the Dakar.
09:28 And boom, we're off and running.
09:29 Well, riding and driving anyway.
09:31 See you tomorrow.
09:33 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:43 (whooshing)
09:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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