Audi's Mattias Ekstrom was fastest on Friday on the 27km Dakar Rally prologue raced over the desert sands of AlUla in Saudi Arabia.
Double defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah made a slight detour and ended the day 12th.
Swede Ekstrom set a time of 16min 30sec, some 23sec ahead of the American Seth Quintero of Toyota, making his debut at this level.
"I wanted to prove that I was there to play in the big leagues," said the 21-year-old Quintero who joined Toyota to replace Al-Attiyah, winner of the last two editions, who left for Prodrive this season.
"It worked very well, there were a lot of traps but we did well."
French veteran Sebastien Loeb came in third at 38sec in a promising start after his second place overall in 2023.
The times do not count towards the overall standings but instead provide a choice of starting position for Saturday's opener.
"That wasn't easy," said the nine-time world champion Loeb, who is yet to win a Dakar.
"It was a tough choice to either attack the course or manage the deficit. In the end I attacked and it worked out okay," he said.
Prodrive's Brazilian brothers Marcos and Cristian Baumgart rounded out the top five, according to AFP.
Al-Attiyah brushed off his mishap of 12th place at 1min 01sec saying he was getting used to the new car.
"Twelth is a good place," he said.
Spaniard Tosha Schareina on a Honda took the honors on the motorbikes, finishing the prologue 12secs ahead of Daniel Sanders' GasGAs with Hero rider Ross Branch a further seven seconds behind.
Title holder Kevin Benavides, achieved the day’s ninth best time, a little less than one minute behind the winner.
Saturday's opening stage is a 414km run over sand and grey rock. Sunday's stage 2 is contested over tough jagged-stone sections and vast expanses of sand dunes. The 8,000km long 12-stage marathon ends at the Red Sea January 19.
