April 14 is a special date for Noa Sainct. His late father, the legendary Richard Sainct, was born on this day in 1970. 55 years later, the younger Sainct took off the start line for his first desert rally raid.

Stage 1 of the Carta Rallye took place on Monday, kicking off with a 306-kilometer special from Plage Blanche to Icht. Sainct signed up for the race with the hope of using it as a stepping stone to compete in the Dakar Rally, which Richard won three times, potentially as early as 2026.

Similar to the final day of the Dakar Rally in January, Stage 1 began with a mass start as competitors went out together in groups of four across two-minute intervals. Sainct was part of the third batch alongside Clément Artaud, Attilio Fert, and Duprey Yann.

From there, Sainct started to find his footing on the beach as he reached speeds as high as 150 km/h before hitting the sand. Although he closed in on the leaders like eventual Stage 1 winner Benjamin Melot, his navigation tower started experiencing issues that forced him to slow down. After being one of the last bikes to exit the 67-km transfer section, he fought his way back to finish 12th.

“I’m definitely struggling in the fast and rocky sections with this bike, but I’m still having a great time,” remarked Sainct.

Melot, the 2025 Dakar Malle Moto runner-up, beat Martin Ventura for the bike stage win by a minute.

Alessandro Botturi and Gautier Paulin finished third and fourth in the debut stage for the Yamaha Ténéré 700 Rally GYTR. Paulin, a former motocross star, is new to rallies on bikes after winning the 2024 Africa Eco Race on four wheels.

Simon Vitse won the stage for cars, just two days after winning the Morocco Desert Challenge in T1.2 with his MD Optimus EVO 5. Tomas Mickus topped the day for SSVs.

Kart racer Omar Benhayoun finished 32nd overall and 22nd for SSV Open entries in his maiden rally stage.

Stage 1 winners

Moto

Class	Overall	Number	Competitor	Team	Total Time
Up to 450cc	1	39	Benjamin Melot	Team Esprit KTM	3:43:15
Over 450cc	3	3	Alessandro Botturi	Yamaha Ténéré World Raid Team	3:44:58
Quad	35	45	Alexis Varagne	Dragon Racing	7:01:22

Auto

Class	Overall	Number	Competitor	Team	Total Time
Ultimate	1	101	Simon Vitse	Team Vitse	3:25:06
2WD	8	104	Kacem Hamsas	Hamsas	4:08:05
4×4	35	108	Laurent Ducreux	Team Ducreux	5:30:57
SSV Open	2	227	Tomas Mickus	BRO Racing	3:54:46
SSV Series	15	238	Joel Labille	El Mobility	4:14:11

Featured image credit: Actiongraphers