RALLYING

into a ditch and later briefly losing his way.

In the battle of the bikes, Australian rider Toby Price, this year’s Dakar Rally winner, took the stage to lead by 35 seconds from his KTM teammate, Dubai-based Sam Sunderland.

Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla is another 34 seconds away in third on his Husqvarna, with Portuguese riders Helder Rodrigues and Jakub Piatek followed by Spain’s Txomin Arana Cobeaga completing the top six.

Top Emirati rider Mohammed Al Balooshi finished the leg in seventh place, one place ahead of veteran Dubai-based Dave McBride, with Spanish lady rider Laia Sanz in ninth on her Desert Challenge debut.

“Today’s stage reminded competitors how demanding this rally is, no matter if you have been competing for years, or taking it on for the first time,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, the rally organisers. “It’s a tough challenge, but ultimately it’s a fair one.”

Al Attiyah clearly enjoyed his perfect start to the Desert Challenge, his technical disqualification 12 months ago long

Toby Price in action

forgotten as he set out to become the first Arab driver to win the event since his own victory back in 2008.

Outpacing a trio of Minis, the car which has dominated the rally in recent years, he reached the end of the stage to say simply: “It was very good day and I’m pleased to show people that the performance of the Toyota is very good.”

Al-Rajhi said: “It was a good first stage, nothing special. We were sick in the morning, but we are here now and we finished so we’re happy.”

Aiming to become only the second driver to complete a Desert Challenge hat-trick, Vasilyev finished the leg to say: “It was a good fight. We stayed close with Nasser. When he stopped once it caused us to stop as well and we were there for 1-2 mins. But no real problems — a good day.”

A disappointed Al Qassimi confirmed: “I was stuck for about 10 minutes trying to avoid a bike and went into a ditch. I was then trying to catch up but missed a checkpoint and had to turn around.”

Menzies said: “Today went really well. It’s my first ever rally like this, a new experience which is awesome, and only Nasser passed us. We fought a bit with him but we played it safe today. Tomorrow we’ll push.”

Based on his brilliant Dakar Rally victory three months ago and a succession of titles won in Australia, Price was always expected to be in the heat of the bikes battle on his Desert Challenge debut and he fully lived up to expectations.

He finished the stage to say: “Today was good. It got a little tricky to see when the sun got above us. We had one get off, nothing too crazy. It’s a different challenge to Dakar. I like riding in the sand, across the dunes. It’s a lot of fun and we got to the finish line that’s the important thing.

Sunderland, runner up last year, commented: “It was a tough day with the strong wind creating a layer of sand making it difficult to read the terrain. I also had problems with my shoulder which I injured in the prologue.”

Nasser Al Attiyah in action