Qatari driver Nasser al-Attiyah sent out an early warning to his rivals in the Dakar Rally by winning the car prologue on Saturday while defending champion Ricky Brabec of the USA took the early motorbike honours.
The prologue, being run for the first time in the Dakar’s history, took place on a mainly sandy 11-kilometre route near the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
Toyota driver Attiyah, a three-time winner of the most grueling event in motorsport, earned the right to start first in Sunday’s opening stage, a 622km run from Jeddah to Bisha in the southeast of the kingdom.
