Photo of the Week #35 from DPPI Images at Dakar 2019

Jan 11, 2019

Dakar 2019 – Stage 2 : Pisco – San Juan de Marcona
Canon EOS-1D X – Lens: 200 mm

DPPI Images has been providing photographic coverage of major motorsport competitions for 53 years. Every weekend, our photographers travel to the world’s most prestigious circuits and rallies. From the thousands of shots they take, we ask each of them to select just one and tell the story behind it.

For the first time in the Dakar Rally’s history, the 2019 event is being held in a single country – Peru – where the menu faced by the 334 crews and riders taking part comprises sand, sand and more sand.

After winning the opening stage on the run from Lima to Pisco, Nasser Al-Attiyah was the first driver into Tuesday’s 342km test between Pisco to San Juan de Marcona and, unlike on Leg 1, his task was complicated by the fact that he started ahead of the bikers. The Qatari ended up posting the 11th-best effort, seven minutes short of the day’s victor, Sébastien Loeb.

For the past 40 years, January’s Dakar has always been the first assignment of the year for DPPI Images’ photographers. To cover Day 2’s action we had to get up very early – around 4am, well before the competitors – to drive to our vantage point in our Toyota HDJ. We wanted a spot that epitomised the stunning scenery that serves as backdrop to this unique competition and our early-morning start meant we were able to capture the beauty and immensity of the Peruvian dunes lit up by the rising sun.

And this is just a foretaste of what awaits us over the next two weeks!

Frédéric Le Floc’h

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