The day one of the 2025 Dakar Rally is done, and Dacia Sandriders team has performed beyond anyone’s imagination. This timed loop of 29 kilometers took place in Bisha, Saudi Arabia. Another noticeable performance of Dacia’s crews was the third place in the overall rating.

This was only one, the first step, and there will be plenty more like this, but the Dacia Sandriders team now definitely means business. It is a great achievement to have two crews within the top 10 in their first race, and it challenges the rest of the competitors.

Staring at the outcome, it can be seen that it is Nasser Al-Attiyah and Edouard Boulanger who made Dacia known in the rally scene. I don’t know how they will do in the subsequent stages, but to be 20 seconds off the stage winner and 3rd overall is great. They cannot ignore the fact that this team is having one of the most outstanding drivers in this world, Nasser Al-Attiyah. The backing of the Edouard Boulanger is most definitely fundamentally important for its accomplishment.

Regarding Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin, 6th place overall might not have been the goal, but still an awesome performance given the fact that this stage was their first in the competition. Even though the difference between the first and sixth crews was more than thirty seconds, one must admit that the teams definitely were pretty much alike in their speed. In my opinion, all these results should be analyzed and discussed by the Dacia Sandriders team because, depending on the results obtained, they can be stronger in the stages that will come.

Going further the total of the performance of all teams Dacia, the next positions indicate the fact that Toyota Gazoo Racing and Ford M-Sport will be strong rivals for each other during overtaking and throughout the entire race. It is therefore no doubt that the fight in the 2025 Dakar Rally will be a tread from the start line.

While it is wonderful to see Private Dacia race so well in their first participation in any championship, it is equally fascinating to see that Romanian driver Emanuel Gyenes is also contending for a podium finish in the motorcycle class. After he manages to finish the first stage in the 29th position and wins the Original by Motul class, I can obviously state that he is quite a worthy rival, and it is good to see a Romanian participate in such a splendid race.

Racing into the first real leg of the Dakar Rally, the Dacia Sandriders team, along with the others, will cover a 499-kilometer stretch of which 413 kilometers will be timed. The results of the prologue will be important for the teams in order to see what they need to change in the upcoming tasks.

Thus, it can be stated that the Dacia Sandriders team has left its mark at stage one of the 2025 Dakar Rally. With crews finishing 3rd and 6th overall, they have shown they are not out of place in this competition. Toyota Gazoo Racing and Ford M-Sport factory teams surely will be eager observers of the performance of the Dacia team since the latter proved that they are capable of fighting for the win.

Picking the future path of the Dakar Rally is still hard, but what can be stated definitively is that Dacia has put the bar high, and all the other teams must follow now. Despite the future stages, which will, undoubtedly, challenge the guys and girls, the outcomes seem to satisfy the fans to the maximum, and it feels like the Dacia Sandriders team is for something great. I personally would like to know how they will do and whether they will be able to fight for a top three position in the subsequent stages.