Prologue to AlAttiyah
Motorsport: Qatar’s
Nasser AlAttiyah led the cars in the prologue to the
Dakar Rally in Saudi
Arabia yesterday while American defending champion
Ricky Brabec got in the groove with the fastest time on two wheels.
AlAttiyah, a threetime Dakar winner, completed the 11km timed section in 5min 48sec before today’s first stage from the port city of Jeddah to Bisha.
‘‘I’m glad we got the show on the road. The prologue is just an appetiser but it gives us a glimpse of where everyone stands,’’ he said. ‘‘Things get serious tomorrow with a long opening stage.’’
The competitors arrived on charter flights after Saudi Arabia closed its border due to Covid19, and all of them had to quarantine and test negative before joining a bubble for the next two weeks.