De Mevius, who sat a distant 32nd after Friday’s Prologue, made rapid gains over the course of the 414km test between Al-’Ula and Al Henakiyah to overhaul Mattias Ekstrom and then Carlos Sainz Sr (both Audi) to claim his first-ever stage victory in Dakar.
It was overnight leader Ekstrom who held the top spot in the early part of the first special, building a lead of over two minutes by the fourth checkpoint at the 170km mark.
However, he began to come under pressure from a rapid Sainz in the middle part of the special, losing eight minutes relative to the Spaniard in the 56km stretch between checkpoints five and six.
Mevius was also able to take advantage of Ekstrom’s trouble to jump to second position, before surging ahead of Sainz at the next timed marker to seize the lead.
The Belgian’s margin at the finish line was 1m44s, as he celebrated a stage victory in only his maiden appearance in Dakar’s Ultimate class after his 2023 bow in T3 machinery.
Sainz had to settle for second spot on a day Audi looked to have the stage win in the bag, although he was the only driver to finish anywhere close to Mevius.
Source: Autosport