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NEWS
Sunderland leads Dakar after stage one
The Briton has taken the honours in the short opening stage, with many riders simply getting into the groove ahead of the really hard yakkaKTM factory rider Sam Sunderland leads the 2015 Dakar Rally after stage one, the Briton competing the 175km timed section in one hour, 18 minutes and 57 seconds (1:18.57), just ahead of Honda's Paolo Goncalves.
With the leading 22 riders separated by just six minutes, defending champion Marc Coma (KTM) is third in the standings from fellow Spaniard Joan Barreda (Honda) and Frenchman Alain Duclos (Sherco), with Australian rookie Toby Price (KTM) in a solid 11th position.
"It's difficult to judge your strategy based on the first day because you still don't know who's pulled out all the stops," said Sunderland. "It's also important not to go all in; you've got to leave something for the other stages. However, I think I had a good special and that's always a reason to be happy. The bike didn't miss a beat, it was very fast and I probably posted a good time.
"I'm a contender... for the first day. I hope I'm also a contender at the end, but we've only covered 175km and there's still a long road before us."
Sunderland is correct: there are still 4577km of timed specials ahead of the riders.
Llewellyn Sullivan-Pavey (KTM) is Australia's second-ranked rider after stage one, sitting in 84th position. All 160 riders made it through the opening day.
The event now gets really serious, with stage two from Villa Carlos Paz to San Juan including a timed special of 518km.
Stage one results
1, Sam Sunderland, GBR, KTM, 1 hour 18.57
2, Paolo Goncalves, POR, Honda at 00.05
3, Marc Coma, ESP, KTM at 1.12
4, Joan Barreda, ESP, Honda at 1.41
5, Alain Duclos, FRA, Sherco at 2:08
6, Jeremias Israel Esquerre, CHI, Honda at 2.16
7, David Casteu, FRA, KTM, at 2.36
8, Matthias Walkner, AUT, KTM, at 2.42
9, Pablo Quintanilla, CHI, KTM at 2.58
10, Ruben Faria, POR, KTM, at 3:02
11, Toby Price, AUS, KTM at 3.31
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Written byBikesales Staff
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