P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Sainz expects to "suffer a lot" at start of Dakar Rally
Audi driver Sainz struggled in the Prologue stage, finishing 48th and losing over two minutes to his teammate Ekstrom. As a result, he will start the rally in the middle of the pack and will have to overtake slower cars to advance. Sainz admitted that his strategy didn’t work out as planned, getting lost in the sand and miscalculating the time lost. This poor starting position could have an impact on his results in the first official stage. However, Sainz remains optimistic and believes there is still a lot of race left to make up for lost time. Meanwhile, former WRC driver Sebastien Loeb had a clean start to the rally and finished just 38 seconds behind Ekstrom in third place. Loeb is still looking for his first Dakar victory in his eighth attempt.
