2015 Dakar Rally Stage 1 Results | KTM’s Sunderland in Lead

KTM's Sam Sunderland at Stage One Dakar Rally 2015
KTM's Sam Sunderland

2015 Dakar Rally Stage 1 Motorcycle Results

Last season, Sam Sunderland struggled during the opening stages of the Dakar Rally. But not this year; the Red Bull KTM 450 Rally pilot opened up 2015 Dakar Rally with a win.

This was his second-career Dakar stage win, and he dominated Sunday’s route that took riders from Buenos Aires to Villa Carlos Paz in Argentina. In total, 521 miles were traveled, including a 412-mile liaison and 108-mile special.

Sunderland finished the timed special in 18 hours 57 minutes, and the next 22 riders finished within a six-minute margin – very impressive for the Dakar Rally.

Sunderland, who resides in Dubai, finished a mere 0.05 of a second ahead of Portugal’s Paolo Conclaves (Honda) ad 1:12 minutes ahead of teammate and four-time Dakar winner Marc Coma.

“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. It’s also important not to go all in, you’ve got to leave something for the other stages,” says Sunderland, who signed with the KTM Factory Team in early 2014.

“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 175 kilometers and there’s still a long road before us,” he said after the stage. Sunderland is correct – 175 km in the bank and 4577 km of tough timed specials to the finish line.

The official Dakar report says Sunderland now has good reason to reassess his goals, although the 25-year-old knows that the race is long and the competition will be fierce. Gonçalves, for instance, wants to make amends in South America. The Portuguese 2013 rally world champion broke down in tears when his Honda burst into flames during the fifth stage of the 2014 Dakar.

Paulo Gonclaves says ”The 2015 Dakar is really under way now. If I’d know I was running second, just a few seconds behind Sam Sunderland, I would’ve pushed a bit harder to try and win the special. No big deal, I’m very happy. We’ve got a long stage coming tomorrow and we’ll be racing up front.

“For me, what’s important is to stay on my bike and avoiding the problems that plagued me in previous year. I hope I won’t run into trouble and to finish the race in a decent position. I really want to help Honda win the Dakar. They’ve worked their socks off to put this amazing bike together, and I hope I can give something back to them by doing my bit for a Dakar victory.”

As for Coma, he’s the favorite to win this year considering his main rival – five team Dakar winner Cyril Despres – has switched to four wheels for 2015 (Despres and his Peugeot teammate Picard, finished 33rd, 10:39 minutes behind stage winner Al-Attiyah and Baumel).

“I felt good. It was quite an easy, fast stage, a very fast one. Avoiding mistakes was obviously very important. The start’s always risky business because you want to push hard and open up gaps. The stage was awesome. Rain over the last few days made certain spots muddy or wet, but nothing too difficult,” Coma says.

Coma was followed 0.29 of a second back by Joan Barreda on the Honda CRF 450 Rally.

Barreda Bort says ”We got off to a fast start today. At some points we were riding at 180 km/h! There was some risk, with holes on the course filled with water from recent rains. It was difficult to judge. I eased up a bit towards the end because I’d got near Marc [Coma] and riding conservatively was enough with a view towards tomorrow’s stage. It’ll be a long day, and the latter half will have a stronger Dakar flavor, putting navigational skills to the test. Today can be described as a warm-up. Tomorrow will be a different story, one of the longest stages. But I’m all psyched up and looking forward to real action.”

Rounding out the top 10 were Sherco’s Alain Duclos, Honda’s Jeremías Israel, KTM’s David Casteu, KTM’s Matthias Walkner, Yamaha’s Olivier Pain, and KTM’s Jordi Viladoms.

Olivier Pain – a former teammate of Cyril Despres summed up stage one in 2015 Dakar Rally: “You had to be wary. There were ruts all over the world, with shadows in the undergrowth which made it a tricky stage, what with the high speeds reached today. My aim for today was to get used to the road book again. I hope I’m in the top 10 ahead of tomorrow’s big stage. I got a feel for the bike at high speeds… but I can still kick it up a notch, I think I’ve still got some margin left. This is just the beginning and there are still 12 stages left. That’s the way the Dakar is, nothing is set in stone.”

Sunday’s action was intense, but many more challenges lay ahead. Monday’s stage two takes riders from Villa Carlos Paz to San Juan. Total distance will be 322 miles, with a timed special of 66 miles.

2015 Dakar Rally Stage 1 Results – Buenos Aires to Villa Carlos Paz – 412-mile liaison, 108-mile special (521 miles):

Pos. Name Mark Time variation Penalty

1

6 KTM 01:18:57

2

7 HONDA 01:19:02 00:00:05

3

1 KTM 01:20:09 00:01:12

4

2 HONDA 01:20:38 00:01:41

5

14 SHERCO TVS 01:21:05 00:02:08

6

12 HONDA 01:21:13 00:02:16

7

9 KTM 01:21:33 00:02:36

8

27 KTM 01:21:39 00:02:42

9

31 KTM 01:21:55 00:02:58

10

11 KTM 01:21:59 00:03:02

11

26 KTM 01:22:28 00:03:31

12

5 HONDA 01:22:29 00:03:32

13

3 YAMAHA 01:22:31 00:03:34

14

4 KTM 01:22:42 00:03:45

15

10 YAMAHA 01:23:27 00:04:30

16

22 HONDA 01:23:29 00:04:32

17

29 HONDA 01:23:43 00:04:46

18

30 YAMAHA 01:23:53 00:04:56

19

15 YAMAHA 01:24:11 00:05:14

20

23 GASGAS 01:24:29 00:05:32

21

17 YAMAHA 01:24:37 00:05:40

22

20 KTM 01:24:51 00:05:54

23

18
  • SVITKO (SVK)
KTM 01:24:52 00:05:55

24

21 KTM 01:24:53 00:05:56

25

33 KTM 01:25:15 00:06:18

26

25 SHERCO TVS 01:25:29 00:06:32

27

19 YAMAHA 01:25:32 00:06:35

28

24 HONDA 01:25:33 00:06:36

29

28 KTM 01:26:25 00:07:28

30

34 KTM 01:26:36 00:07:39

31

8 KTM 01:26:50 00:07:53

32

120 YAMAHA 01:27:32 00:08:35

33

16 HONDA 01:28:20 00:09:23

34

32 KTM 01:28:31 00:09:34

35

37
  • VOGELS (NLD)
KTM 01:28:35 00:09:38

36

35
  • STANOVNIK (SVN)
KTM 01:28:36 00:09:39

37

60 KAWASAKI 01:28:47 00:09:50

38

62 KTM 01:28:48 00:09:51

39

160 KTM 01:28:49 00:09:52

40

44
  • DE SOULTRAIT (FRA)
YAMAHA 01:29:56 00:10:59

41

45 YAMAHA 01:29:56 00:10:59

42

36 KTM 01:30:02 00:11:05

43

38 KTM 01:30:22 00:11:25

44

46 YAMAHA 01:30:42 00:11:45

45

53 KTM 01:31:08 00:12:11

46

39 YAMAHA 01:31:21 00:12:24

47

49 KTM 01:31:25 00:12:28

48

47 GASGAS 01:31:41 00:12:44

49

88 SHERCO 01:33:12 00:14:15

50

48 KTM 01:33:23 00:14:26

51

50
  • BUTUZA (ROU)
KTM 01:34:15 00:15:18

52

52 KAWASAKI 01:34:49 00:15:52

53

57 KTM 01:36:05 00:17:08

54

54
  • ARREDONDO (GTM)
KTM 01:37:01 00:18:04

55

109 KTM 01:37:07 00:18:10

56

79 YAMAHA 01:37:12 00:18:15

57

40 SUZUKI 01:37:39 00:18:42

58

103 KTM 01:37:45 00:18:48

59

137 KTM 01:37:47 00:18:50

60

71 SHERCO 01:37:49 00:18:52

61

81 KTM 01:37:49 00:18:52

62

66 KTM 01:38:06 00:19:09

63

129 KTM 01:38:11 00:19:14

64

125 KTM 01:38:15 00:19:18

65

87 KTM 01:38:16 00:19:19

66

78 KTM 01:38:28 00:19:31

67

84 KTM 01:38:55 00:19:58

68

65 KTM 01:38:59 00:20:02

69

77 HONDA 01:39:04 00:20:07

70

83
  • DAMDINKHORLOO (MNG)
KTM 01:39:09 00:20:12

71

161 KAWASAKI 01:39:16 00:20:19

72

68 KTM 01:39:19 00:20:22

73

72 KTM 01:39:27 00:20:30

74

113 KTM 01:39:36 00:20:39

75

67 KTM 01:39:38 00:20:41

76

69 YAMAHA 01:39:38 00:20:41

77

73 HUQSVARNA 01:39:42 00:20:45

78

114 KTM 01:39:44 00:20:47

79

82 KTM 01:39:51 00:20:54

80

63 KTM 01:39:57 00:21:00

81

70 KTM 01:40:01 00:21:04

82

140 HUSQVARNA 01:40:28 00:21:31

83

56 KTM 01:40:51 00:21:54

84

75 KTM 01:41:01 00:22:04

85

76 KTM 01:41:07 00:22:10

86

59 KTM 01:41:24 00:22:27

87

144
  • UDRY (CHE)
KTM 01:41:29 00:22:32

88

151
  • ENGEL (CZE)
KTM 01:41:44 00:22:47

89

51 HONDA 01:41:59 00:23:02

90

80 YAMAHA 01:42:01 00:23:04

91

55 SUZUKI 01:42:10 00:23:13

92

100
  • CROQUELOIS (FRA)
KTM 01:42:23 00:23:26

93

139
  • VAN BERGEIJK (NLD)
HUSABERG 01:42:29 00:23:32

94

86 KTM 01:42:35 00:23:38

95

168 KTM 01:42:42 00:23:45

96

107
  • TOIA (ITA)
KTM 01:42:47 00:23:50

97

126
  • VAN HEERTUM (NLD)
KTM 01:43:01 00:24:04

98

95 KTM 01:43:05 00:24:08

99

89 KTM 01:43:18 00:24:21

100

74 KAWASAKI 01:44:15 00:25:18

101

156 KTM 01:44:28 00:25:31

102

138 KTM 01:44:32 00:25:35

103

90 KTM 01:44:35 00:25:38

104

58 KTM 01:44:47 00:25:50

105

118 YAMAHA 01:45:50 00:26:53

106

91 HUQSVARNA 01:46:07 00:27:10

107

98 KAWASAKI 01:46:40 00:27:43

108

146 BETA 01:46:52 00:27:55

109

132 KTM 01:47:09 00:28:12

110

158
  • MARTENS (NLD)
KTM 01:47:55 00:28:58

111

149 HUSABERG 01:48:01 00:29:04

112

153
  • PETRONE (ARG)
YAMAHA 01:48:10 00:29:13

113

165 KTM 01:48:55 00:29:58

114

102 YAMAHA 01:49:42 00:30:45

115

85 KTM 01:49:45 00:30:48

116

97
  • GIMENO GARCÍA (ESP)
KTM 01:49:48 00:30:51

117

101 KTM 01:49:48 00:30:51

118

96 KTM 01:49:49 00:30:52

119

111
  • CUYPERS (FRA)
KTM 01:50:08 00:31:11

120

115 YAMAHA 01:51:15 00:32:18

121

155 KAWASAKI 01:52:53 00:33:56

122

154 YAMAHA 01:53:14 00:34:17

123

121
  • SENNVANBASEL (NLD)
KTM 01:53:33 00:34:36

124

133 KTM 01:53:44 00:34:47

125

148 KTM 01:53:47 00:34:50

126

163 KTM 01:53:49 00:34:52

127

92 KAWASAKI 01:53:55 00:34:58

128

166 KTM 01:54:38 00:35:41

129

134 KTM 01:55:02 00:36:05

130

152 YAMAHA 01:55:13 00:36:16

131

147 HONDA 01:55:47 00:36:50

132

93 KTM 01:56:00 00:37:03

133

159 KTM 01:56:14 00:37:17

134

150 GASGAS 01:56:40 00:37:43

135

61
  • ONTIVEROS (ARG)
BETA 01:57:08 00:38:11

136

128 KTM 01:57:21 00:38:24

137

131 KTM 01:57:28 00:38:31

138

127 KTM 01:57:51 00:38:54

139

167 KTM 01:58:11 00:39:14

140

99 KTM 01:58:53 00:39:56

141

136 YAMAHA 01:59:03 00:40:06

142

110 YAMAHA 02:01:45 00:42:48

143

117 KTM 02:02:15 00:43:18

144

108 KTM 02:02:23 00:43:26

145

116
  • FOURNY (BEL)
YAMAHA 02:02:44 00:43:47

146

64 KTM 02:03:10 00:44:13

147

141 HONDA 02:04:47 00:45:50

148

105 YAMAHA 02:05:31 00:46:34

149

135 HONDA 02:06:04 00:47:07

150

104 HUSQVARNA 02:07:04 00:48:07

151

124 HONDA 02:08:06 00:49:09

152

123 HONDA 02:08:16 00:49:19

153

164
  • NARINO (USA)
HUSQVARNA 02:08:27 00:49:30

154

145 YAMAHA 02:08:33 00:49:36

155

112 HONDA 02:09:10 00:50:13

156

162 KAWASAKI 02:14:31 00:55:34

157

157
  • SABBATUCCI (ITA)
YAMAHA 02:15:40 00:56:43

158

143 KTM 02:21:01 01:02:04

159

42 HONDA 02:44:55 01:25:58

160

106 KTM 04:05:39 02:46:42 01:00:00

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