American Seth Quintero won the first stage of the Dakar Rally on Saturday, while Qatar’s five-time winner Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah was in 20th position .Organisers had initially named French Mini driver Guerlain Chicherit as the stage winner. But that was overturned and Quintero credited with victory after recuperating 95 seconds after stopping for an accident. The American timed 4hr 35min 08sec on the 413km special around Bisha in Saudi Arabia, finishing 45sec ahead of Chicherit, organisers said.Defending champion Carlos Sainz (Ford) came in seventh, while nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb was 22nd, 11min 31sec off the lead pace.Dacia driver al-Attiyah said tactics had played a big part in the day’s classification and said he had taken the stage easy, stopping for 15 minutes after a puncture to secure a more favourable position on Sunday. “Maybe we lose a lot of time... but it’s very important for tomorrow. If I start 50th, that would be nice,” said the Qatari. “Last year, we took a risk but we learned. We don’t need to learn this year, we need to be smart, and I’m really quite happy to manage on Sunday without any problems. The stage wasn’t easy, but we took it steady and avoided mistakes.Competitors will Sunday tackle a 48-hour stage in the Empty Quarter, a vast sea of sand with dunes as far as the eye can see. Introduced last year, the stage features a special of 1,000km while drivers and riders have to bivouac on the sand and are not allowed outside help.Setting off first through the sea of dunes and over rough and rocky desert tracks is a disadvantage for a driver compared to those who follow. “The goal was not to do the best time, so we decided to stop for a few minutes at the end to lose a bit of time and not to be first on the road tomorrow,” said Frenchman Loeb. “Everyone played the same game.”Chicherit also stopped when a small fire broke out around the exhaust but he decided to adopt a different strategy to rivals. “I predicted that all the top guns would follow the same strategy, so I asked myself, ‘Should I stay with the herd in a low-risk, low-reward approach, or should I do the exact opposite?’,” he explained. “Winning tomorrow is virtually impossible. I need to limit the damage to 15 minutes or less. If I can pull it off, I’ll still be within five minutes of the rest.”Setting off first, or opening the road, is often seen as a disadvantage. It has been made even tougher this year by the fact that car and motorbike categories will drive differing routes, meaning drivers will be unable to follow the trails set by the faster bikes.Australia’s Daniel Sanders (KTM) took the honours in the motorbike category. The 30-year-old took the lead at the 151km mark and kept his cool through to the finish, timing 4:41:27 over the special. Defending champion Ricky Brabec of the US and Botswana’s Ross Branch were 2min off Sanders.Hero rider Sebastian Buehler’s rally ended after the German crashed and injured his shoulder.