The prologue portion of the Dakar rally is used to determine what the running order is- much like a qualifying session during a traditional race series. It’s done so that slower cars do not get in the way of the quicker ones, as the Dakar rally is not traditional in the sense of multiple shorter stages during the day. There are also advantages to being ahead in the Dakar rally, simply because the terrain may not be as churned through.
In any case, Dakar has had it’s first accident: Guo Meiling of the MINI X-Raid contingent went off course during this prologue special stage and plowed into a group of spectators, barely 6.6 kilometres into the 11 kilometre stage. Initial reports said that 4 people had been injured, but this has been revised to 11 people with 2 in critical condition. The race will continue as planned as most of the other classes had already run through and qualified, although Guo will not be continuing on.
