First stage and first victory for Iveco

​The Iveco trucks started full speed: Hans Stacey took the first place in Argentina. Also with Iveco, Gerard De Rooy finished in 9th place and Pep Vila in 12th.

The first timed 175 kilometers of the 2015 Dakar are now of the past. This stage went fast and smoothly for Hans Stacey, who took advantage of the speed of his Iveco Powerstar to win the first special stage of the Dakar.

After taking turns in the lead a couple of times as they passed the various waypoints, Hans Stacey's Iveco Powerstar came in first place and became the first partial winner of the 2015 edition: he finished with a 35 second lead on Marcel Van Vliet and his  Man truck.

"I am very happy. I had hoped to win this stage. For the past two years, I've been having trouble, but this time everything is going smoothly and I feel confident. In order to win this race, we need everything to go perfectly. I feel like everything's just right, everything's organized. I think I can win. We will try to keep it up," said Hans Stacey, upon arriving at the finish line as the winner of the first stage.

Gerard de Rooy, the 2012 Iveco winner and runner-up in 2014, came in a little later. The Dutch team leader lost time after waypoint 2, with an average special stage. He still finished just 1m57s behind his teammate, a negligible difference given the upcoming stages.

Pep Vila, with an Iveco Trakker Evolution II, closed the day in 12th place at 3m21s. The Spaniard had a strong performance during this first stage of the 2015 Dakar and he is ready to join the Top 10 during the next special stage on Monday, connecting the towns of Villa Carlos Paz and San Juan, still in Argentina.