Orlando Terranova and Bernardo “Ronnie” Grau in a Monster Energy Rally Raid Team Mini All 4 Racing finished first on day one of competition in the 2015 Dakar Rally. Krzysztof Holowczyc and Xavier Panseri in another Monster Energy Mini finished fourth.
Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel in a Qatar Rally Team Mini won the stage on the road, but were later penalized two minutes and dropped to seventh place.
The front runners’ Minis are among nine entered in the 2015 Dakar by Sven Quandt’s X-Raid Team, Dakar winners since 2012. Last year’s winners Joan “Nani” Roma and Michel Périn in one of the Monster Energy Minis stopped early on the first stage. They required technical assistance that took over four hours, most likely taking them out of contention for a repeat win.
Perennial Dakar competitor Robby Gordon and his co-driver Johnny Campbell finished the day second in a Hummer.
The first stage of the rally began in Buenos Aires and ended after 833 km of running in Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina. The thirteen-stage rally begins and ends in Argentina, with stages in Chile and Bolivia along the route.
Bikes, quads, and trucks run the Dakar along with the cars. Details on the 2015 Dakar appear on the event website. The NBC Sports Network is carrying daily highlights of the rally. —Brian S. Morgan
