Rallying-Ekstrom wins Dakar prologue in Ford one-two

Jan 3 : ‌Sweden's Mattias Ekstrom made a quick start to the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Saturday by leading a Ford one-two, the manufacturer's first, in the 22km prologue to the main event.

The two-times German Touring Car (DTM) champion covered the distance around ‌Yanbu in 10 minutes 48.7 seconds ‌in his Raptor, eight seconds faster than American teammate Mitch Guthrie.

Belgian Guillaume de Mevius and Qatari five-times winner Nasser Al-Attiyah were third and fourth in the same time for Mini X-Raid and Dacia Sandriders respectively.

It was Ekstrom's ‍third prologue success after 2023 and 2024 and his sixth Dakar special stage win.

Saudi Arabia's defending champion Yazeed al-Rajhi was sixth and 14 seconds off the pace for Toyota ​Overdrive.

The prologue positions determine only ‌the start order for Sunday's first proper stage, with the times not carrying over but the ​10 fastest drivers picking their start positions among the first ⁠16. 

In the motorcycle category, Spaniard ‌Edgar Canet was fastest for KTM and became ​the youngest stage winner on two wheels at the age of 20 years nine months and ‍18 days.

Defending champion and teammate Daniel Sanders of Australia was ⁠three seconds behind with American Ricky Brabec third for Honda.  

Canet ​will start 15th on ‌Sunday with Sanders 16th.