American racers have established themselves as forces to be reckoned with in two classes of racing in the Dakar Rally in recent years: motorcycles, where Ricky Brabec took the overall victory in 2020, and UTVs, where Casey Currie won in the same year. Today, it was a pair of different names at the top of the stage charts, hinting that 2023 could be more of the same.

2020 Dakar Rally winner Ricky Brabec put in a solid opening day of action, and benefitted from a handful of speeding penalties to some of his top competitors, to claim the motorcycle class win in Stage 1 of the 2023 Dakar Rally, avenging two years of early-race troubles to lead a throng of American riders in the top 10. Americans had a similarly successful day in the T3 Lightweight Prototype class, with three racers—led by Seth Quintero, winner of 12 stages last year—in the top six.