Dakar Rally 2017: Al-Attiyah tops car class after opening stage

Only 39 of the 454kms of the opening stage of the Dakar Rally may have been timed stages, but even those threw up some challenges for the 79 vehicles entered in the car class. Former two-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah topped the overall classification but had to be towed to service. He finished the timed section of the run from Asuncion, Paraguay to Resistencia, Argentina with a time of 25 minutes and 14 seconds, but his two-wheel-drive Toyota Hilux Evo's engine was overheating at the finish.

In an effort to win the Dakar Rally, Toyota have opted to ditch four-wheel-drive on their Hilux in order to cash in on some of the technical freedoms afforded to car entries using two-wheel-drive. Along with 600kg in weight saving comes being able to use larger wheels and tyres and improved weight distribution due to being able to place the engine and transmission between the two axles.

Xavier Pons, in a Ford Ranger, was second overall ahead of Nani Roma's Toyota and Carlos Sainz's Peugeot 3008DKR. Giniel De Villier's Toyota, Sebastien Loeb's Peugeot, Yazeed Al Rajhi's X-Raid Mini, Cyril Despres's Peugeot, Mikko Hirvonen's Mini and Erik Van Loon's Toyota completed the top ten.

Provisional General Classification

1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) 25min. 41sec.
2. Xavier Pons (Ford) 26:05
3. Nani Roma (Toyota) 26:10
4. Carlos Sainz (Peugeot) 26:14
5. Giniel De Villiers (Toyota) 26:22
6. Sebastien Loeb (Peugeot) 26:36
7. Yazeed Al Rajhi (MINI) 26:47
8. Cyril Despres (Peugeot) 26:55
9. Mikko Hirvonen (MINI) 27:01
10. Erik Van Loon (Toyota) 27:03