Al-Attiyah takes Dakar opener, Loeb finishes without brakes

PISCO (Peru): Two-time winner Nasser Al-Attiyah stunned defending champions Peugeot when he steered his Toyota to victory on the opening stage of the 9,000km Dakar Rally on Saturday.

The Qatari driver, who took the title in 2011 and 2015, swept across the short 32km Peruvian desert stage between Lima and Pisco in 21 min 51 sec.

However, it was a miserable first day for nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb who is bidding for a maiden Dakar win.

The Frenchman’s hopes were hit when his Peugeot developed brake problems which left him 5 min 37 sec off the lead and down in 29th place.

“Happily, it was only 31 kilometres!” said Loeb who is bidding to become just the fourth man to win both the world rally title and Dakar after Finnish duo Ari Vatanen and Juha Kankkunen and Spain’s Carlos Sainz.

“I made it without brakes! Zero brakes!,” he added before admitting he had no idea where the problem originated and that his car’s brake lights had not provided any warning. The car’s handbrake also failed the Frenchman.

“Without brakes, it’s really shit.”

South Africa’s Bernhard Ten Brinke (at 25 sec behind Attiyah) and Peru’s Nicolas Fuchs, in a Borgward (34 sec) filled out the podium.

Peugeot, who swept the podium in 2017 with Stephane Peterhansel taking a 13th overall title, endured a day to forget with their cars struggling in the sand and wind of the desert. - AFP