The 2017 Edition of the gruelling Dakar Rally kicked off in South America on the 2nd of January, and already there are bikes out of the rally barely two days in.

Of the 142 riders in the Bike class to have started the famous rally raid, ten have already fallen out of the rally, which not only includes racing across alien terrain that wouldn’t look out of place on mars, but also the return of more traditional navigation skills for the 2017 rally.

The Dakar Rally sporting Director, Marc Coma has said that this edition will be particularly difficult in terms of extra navigation but also because during most of the first week riders will be competing at altitudes above 3500 meters.

Riders started their almost 9,000 km trek through Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina with an opening stage of 454 km, of which only 39 km was timed special. In terms of time for the competing rally bikes this was just under half an hour under the clock, but they rode in oppressive temperatures of up to 36 degrees and high humidity. It was just a taste of what promises to be a huge difference in temperatures and terrain over the next two weeks as the rally makes its way around the South American continent.

Fastest of the KTM factory riders over the short initial timed stage was Sam Sunderland who registered a 28 minute 48 seconds on his KTM 450 RALLY to finish sixth but was only 29 seconds off the fastest pace. Matthias Walkner was eighth, 42 seconds behind while Australian Toby Price, who encountered some dogs on the track, dropped one minute 25 to finish 17th in the tight-knit group at the front. Laia Sanz was 24th trailing by 2.25. In their brief foray into Paraguay the riders approached the technical and often trial-like tracks with predictable caution, bearing in mind that the result on Monday determined starting positions for a longer stage on Tuesday.

Sunderland said he was happy with his day but was pleased to be riding towards cooler temperatures. “I’m sure it’s going to be from one extreme to the other, so we’ll see how we go,” he said. “I didn’t want to be too close to the front because it was a short stage and there was not a lot to gain but much to lose. Tomorrow I’m starting sixth and I’m pretty happy with that. It’s a good way to start the Dakar and we’ll just keep ticking off the days.”

Australian Price then took the overall lead through Stage 2 of the rally, which saw nine of the ten competitors fall from the field. Price leads Honda’s Paulo Goncalves by nearly four minutes, with Sam Sunderland his nearest teammate sitting just 4mins and 19 seconds behind in 4th place.

The second stage saw riders tackle 812 km, of which 284 km is timed special as they ride west towards the Andes in the north of Argentina from the overnight stop at Resistencia to San Miguel de Tucuman. Organizers advised caution in the so-called Chaco region where riders would encounter plenty of fine dust.