Following yesterday’s Prologue which saw him inside the top 50, North Yorkshire off-road motorcycle racer Robbie Wallace continued his great form with a superb ride on the opening stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally to end the day in 42nd position overall.
Today’s stage, which started before dawn and comprised a total of 499km, of which 413km were competitive, saw the 27-year-old electrical engineer from Northallerton continue his steep learning curve on the route around Bisha in Saudi Arabia.
Aboard the X Raids Experience TCC Plant-sponsored 450cc KTM, Robbie came home as top British rider following compatriot James Hillier suffering problems which left him in 127th place out of the 131 remaining motorcycle competitors at the overnight halt.
Robbie Wallace: “I finished 42nd overall today, 23rd in class and fourth Rookie which I’m delighted with. It was another tough day with some more retirements, I heard James Hillier, the only other British rider in the event, crashed but I don’t know any further details, but hopefully he’s OK. The dust was really difficult to deal with and I just backed off if I got close to anyone to avoid crashing. Tomorrow, we start the crazy 620-mile (997km), 48-hour stage where when the clock hits 5pm you stop at one of six camps (the first you come across). They then give you a tent, a sleeping bag, and an army ration pack. I’m looking forward to it but will have to conserve my rear tyre and body as I won’t have access to any help or support on the evening. I can’t even pack my pyjamas!”
Results after Stage 1 – Bisha to Bisha
Overall Position: 42nd
Rally2 Position: 23rd
Rookie Position: 4th
Overall Time: 05h 46′ 10”
Time Behind Leader: 01h 04′ 43”
Distance Covered: 1,020 km
Distance To Go: 11,846 km
SAND SNIPPETS
- Daniel “Chucky” Sanders is giving an encore of his performance in the 2022 Dakar, where he also won the first two stages. The Australian put clear daylight between himself and the competition, pushing his closest rival in the stage, Ricky Brabec, more than two minutes down. A whopping 25 minutes now separate the leader from the tenth-placed rider.
- Ross Branch put in a solid ride to take third in the stage and in the overall classification, but he learned at the finish that his Hero teammate, Sebastian Bühler, had exited the race after crashing and injuring his shoulder 68 kilometres into the special stage.
More updates as the event progresses and further details at www.dakar.com.
Notes to Editors:
The 47th edition of the Dakar will see around 140 motorcycle competitors, as well as hundreds of car, buggy and truck drivers from all over the world converge on Bisha in the south west of Saudi Arabia starting with technical checks and administration on January 1st/2nd 2025 and then the Prologue on January 3rd 2025 before the competition starts in earnest the following day. There then follows a mighty 950km stage over two days on varied terrain, with competitors required to camp out overnight in the desert in a bivouac. At least five stages of the 2025 Dakar will take place on separate courses for safety purposes to reduce the danger of cars and trucks overtaking bikes, and another feature of the 2025 event is riders will have to service their own bikes for up to 800km on a couple of days. After 14 days incorporating 12 stages, Shubaytah, in the eastern part of the country and near the Abu Dhabi border, will welcome the weary finishers.
ENDS
