Edgar Canet picked up his maiden special on his very first RallyGP outing. According to the available records, this makes the 20-year-old Spaniard the youngest winner of a motorbike stage in the history of the Dakar.

The KTM factory rider ended up 3 seconds ahead of his teammate Daniel Sanders and 5 seconds clear of their Honda rival Ricky Brabec. Riding yet another factory machine from the orange team, Luciano Benavides claimed fourth place at 11 seconds. KTM, the reigning champions, could not have asked for a better start.

The Rally2 prologue saw Michael Docherty repeat his performance from 2023 at the Sea Camp in Yanbu. The South African, sixth overall at 19 seconds, took the spoils in his class with 26 seconds to spare over Tobias Ebster and Konrad Dąbrowski. Rookies Preston Campbell (+32″) and Ruy Barbosa (+33″), both astride Hondas, rounded out the top 5 in their class.