Carlos Sainz, the renowned rally driver, encountered a series of punctures during the first day of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. Despite his best efforts, he finished second, falling 1m44s short of stage winner Guillaume de Mevius. Sainz attributed his difficulties to the rocky terrain, revealing that he had to deal with three punctures in that area. Losing precious time, he resorted to changing one of the wheels to mitigate further delays. However, he encountered yet another puncture in the dusty conditions and had to carry out another wheel change. Sainz, anticipating a significant time loss, had to refill a slow puncture wheel with air. While he estimated losing about fifteen or twenty minutes, his claim of three punctures was contested by five-time winner Al-Attiyah.
Nasser Al-Attiyah, who had a challenging day and finished 22nd overall, over 25 minutes behind the leader, disputed Sainz’s claim of three punctures. Al-Attiyah boldly denied the existence of three punctures, arguing that if Sainz had, indeed, faced three punctures, he would not have been able to finish the stage at all. While dismissing Sainz’s account, Al-Attiyah acknowledged the difficult conditions and emphasized that the real challenge lies ahead. He praised Sainz for performing well without any major problems and looked forward to the next long stage.
Driving for Prodrive for the first time, Al-Attiyah himself encountered a painful day full of tire setbacks. Similar to Sainz’s ordeal, Al-Attiyah suffered a puncture after fifty kilometers and another one at eighty. These tire issues hindered his ability to utilize full throttle for a significant portion of the stage. Determined to finish, Al-Attiyah adopted a conservative approach for the rest of the 300-kilometer stage. Despite not pushing for a competitive time, he managed to complete the stage. Al-Attiyah emphasized that luck played a significant role in today’s outcome, acknowledging that some competitors were fortunate while others were less so.
Sebastian Loeb, another competitor in the rally, fared better than Al-Attiyah, finishing five minutes ahead of his teammate. However, he, too, faced a difficult stage. A puncture early on at the seventy-kilometer mark set a challenging tone. Loeb recognized that the remainder of the stage would be hard on both the tires and the car due to the presence of large rocks. To preserve his chances, he adopted a cautious approach. Unfortunately, disaster struck when his steering arm broke, forcing him to replace it in the middle of the stage. Although this repair took time, Loeb remained optimistic despite losing between ten and twelve minutes in total.
The first day of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia proved to be a demanding one for many of the competitors. Carlos Sainz faced puncture problems that impeded his progress and required multiple wheel changes. Nasser Al-Attiyah disputed Sainz’s claim of three punctures, pointing out that it would have rendered Sainz unable to finish the stage. Al-Attiyah himself experienced tire setbacks that restricted his speed for a significant portion of the stage. Sebastian Loeb encountered his fair share of obstacles as well, including punctures and a broken steering arm. Despite these adversities, all competitors remain determined to face the challenges ahead in the upcoming stages of the Dakar Rally.
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