URUMQI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A special stage of the 2018 Taklimakan Rally started on Sunday in the Kumtag Desert in northwestern China as the rugged track conditions and high temperature destroyed racers' hope of doing warm-ups.

The Kumtag Desert stage is known to be one of the most difficult sections of the rally. The stage covers nearly 240 kilometers, is mainly composed of open Gobi desert and continuous dunes. The temperature reached nearly 40 degrees Celsius.

Zi Yungang from Shanxi Yunxiang Club finished first in this stage and said that the track was not "not very difficult" and that "controlling tempo" was important.

The defending champion, French racer Christian Lavieille only ranked 11th in the stage, so he was not satisfied with his performance. "Today, I made a misjudgment when I climbed a dune; my car was trapped in the sand. I wasted some time there, but luckily, I got out of the trouble soon," Lavieille said.

Han Wei, who is thought to be one of Lavieille's fiercest competitors, had a tire blowout and could only manage a sixth place finish.

In the motorcycle group, Chinese racer Zaker won the "Golden Helmet". Defending champion Armand Hernandez finished second. "I made a mistake at the beginning, but in the second half I was very close to Zaker. Fortunately, I found my pace in the competition, which was important to me," the Spanish racer said.

Racers will continue to compete on Monday in the second stage, a 297-kilometer track in the Kumtag Desert.