Audi’s Mattias Ekstrom was fastest on the 27km Dakar Rally prologue raced over the desert sands of Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia.
Double defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah made a slight detour and ended the day 12th.
January is the coolest month in the often searing region with temperatures at 23C (over 40C in July) with almost no wind to blow up the sand and a very low level of humidity.
Swede Ekstrom set a time of 16min 30sec, some 23sec ahead of the American Seth Quintero of Toyota, making his debut at this level.
French veteran Sebastien Loeb came in third at 38sec in a promising start after his second place overall in 2023.
The times do not count towards the overall standings but instead provide a choice of starting position for Saturday’s opener.
Prodrive’s Brazilian brothers Marcos and Cristian Baumgart rounded out the top five.
Al-Attiyah brushed off his mishap of 12th place at 1min 01sec saying he was getting used to the new car.
“Twelth is a good place,” he said.
Spaniard Tosha Schareina on a Honda took the honours on the motorbikes, finishing the prologue 12secs ahead of Daniel Sanders’ GasGAs with Hero rider Ross Branch a further seven seconds behind.
