For many crews its been a year in the making, for most a lifelong dream. The 2024 Dakar prologue was the start of the 46th edition of this famous off-road race. The prologue is a short loop that is run to determine the starting order of the race proper, which takes place tomorrow. Read our ‘Dakar 101‘ article here if you are still learning about the race. The 28 km timed run took place near Al-Ula.

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Honour At Stake

The times recorded on the prologue will not be included in the general rankings for the cars or trucks. The first proper day of racing is Stage 1. Nevertheless, there is a stage to be won. More importantly, the starting positions on stage 1 will be dictated by today’s performances. The winner will choose his place in tomorrow’s starting order, which could make a massive difference in the dusty, rocky desert.

Man On Form

Nasser Al-Attiyah was the first off at the 2024 Dakar prologue. The Qatari driver is looking for this third overall victory on the bounce. He is still favourite to win, despite moving from Toyota to BRX for his 20th Dakar. But he won’t have things too easy this year.

He will have to contend with his teammate Sebastien Loeb. The multiple WRC champ still looking for his first victory. The Audi trio will be looking to make another strong challenge, as will the Toyota Gazoo Racing team. There are several other extremely capable crews at this year’s event, so nothing is assured.

At the Flag

Sweden’s Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport) achieved the best time on this prologue with a lead of 23-seconds lead over Seth Quintero (Toyota Gazoo Racing). The rookie driver was the quickest of the Toyotas on the day. Sébastien Loeb was in third place, 38 seconds behind. His teammates, Marcos and Cristian Baumgart were in close attendance.

Al-Attiyah was 12th quickest with 18-year old SA rookie Saood Variawa just over 1 min 40 from Ekstrom. 2009 champion Giniel de Villiers was over three minutes behind the leader, but he knows there was no real reason to be on the hunt today.

Timings were correct at the time of publication, full stage results can be found here.

Times after 2024 Dakar Prologue

  1. Mattias Ekstrom (Audi Sport) 16 min 30 sec
  2. Seth Quintero (Toyota Gazoo Racing) +23 sec
  3. Sébastien Loeb (BRX) +38 sec
  4. Marcos Baumgart (BRX) +38 sec
  5. Cristian Baumgart (BRX) +44 sec
  6. Krzysztof Hołowczyc (Mini X-Raid) +44 sec
  7. Stephane Peterhansel (Audi Sport) +45 sec
  8. Lionel Baud (Overdrive Racing) +47 sec
  9. Martin Prokop (Ford) +49 sec
  10. Brian Baragwanath (CRT) +55 sec