BISHA: South Africa’s Henk Lategan won the Dakar Rally prologue in the cars category on Friday, kicking off the sixth edition in Saudi Arabia that will stretch nearly 8,000 kilometres across 12 stages. Lategan, driving a Toyota Hilux, finished a second clear of Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom over the 29km run in Bisha, with five-time Dakar champion Nasser al-Attiyah of Qatar third. “It wasn’t a perfect drive, we made a few mistakes here and there, but it was a good stage. We had a good rhythm quite early on,” said Lategan. “Usually, I struggle to get going on the short stages. I need about 20km to warm up, but we knew this was quite important for the road position on the first stage, so we pushed a little bit.” The prologue times do not count towards the overall standings but those in the top 10 get to choose their starting position for the first stage on Saturday, a 499km route featuring 413km of timed sectors. Sebastien Loeb came seventh but Carlos Sainz, who became the oldest winner of the race last year at the age of 61, was down in 25th place. Loeb, a nine-time world rally champion, is chasing a first Dakar crown in his ninth attempt. Australian Daniel Sanders was the quickest of the motorbikes on his KTM, ahead of Botswana’s Ross Branch and Spanish teenager Edgar Canet. Reigning champion Ricky Brabec of Honda came home fourth fastest. Indian motorcycle rider Harith Noah, in his sixth Dakar after finishing 11th overall last year and winning the Rally 2 class, withdrew after suffering a wrist fracture that required surgery. A 434-strong colourful caravan made up of cars, bikes, quads and trucks set out from Bisha for the opening prologue. Twelve stages now await the 778 competitors from 72 countries, with a January 17 finish in Shubaytah, on the border of the United Arab Emirates. This year’s route includes a second 48-hour stage in the Empty Quarter, a vast sea of sand with dunes as far as the eye can see. The 47th running of the event may be called the Dakar, but the last time the Senegalese capital actually hosted the finish was way back in 2007 — the security situation in Mauritania forced the 2008 cancellation. It moved then to South America until fin­d­ing a new home in Saudi Arabia since 2020. The Saudis are spending billions to turn the conservative Arab monarchy often criticised for its human rights record into a major sporting force as it tries to diversify its economy away from oil.