Dark start for the 2012 Dakar

It wasn’t the best of starts for the 2012 edition of the Dakar, which for the fourth year in succession is being run in South America as the Rally got yet againmarked by the death of a driver.

During the first leg which linked Mar del Plata to Santa Rosa in a 57-kilometre stretch, bike competitor Jorge Boero suffered a fall at the 55km point and went into cardiac arrest. The medical crews quickly reached him but were unable to to save the Argentinean's life.

In the cars the first leg was completely dominated by the already expected MINI’s. The top three places went to the X-Raid team with Leonid Novitskiy winning the first stage ahead of Krzysztof Holowczyc and Stéphane Peterhansel.

"Today's special was very short, so we put the pedal on the metal, especially in the sandy sector," said Novitskiy. "We only found another car on the course, but I was able to overtake it without any problems. In short: a good result for a perfect day."

Now racing for Gordon’s Hummer team 2011 winner Nasser Al-Attyah had mechanical problems which cost him already nine minutes. With his engine losing oil, Al-Attyah had to be towed by Gordon to the finish.

The remaing spots of top-five were occupied by Giniel de Villiers in a Toyota and Robby Gordon in Hummer.

In the bikes the stage win went to one of the favourites to the final victory Francisco Lopez, or Chaleco as he is known among the sport. The Chilean finished ahead of Marc Coma and Argentinean biker Javier Pizzolito.