Goczał, racing with co-driver Maciej Marton, crossed the line 1 minute and 38 seconds behind stage winner Guillaume de Mevius of Belgium.
After placing 26th in Saturday’s prologue, Goczał said that short prologue stages were not his strength and that he expected to improve as the rally progressed.
The 50-year-old delivered on that promise on Sunday, beating several race favourites, including Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb.
This year marks Goczał’s debut in the car category at the Dakar Rally. He first competed in the SSV light vehicles class in 2022, finishing third a year later, while his son Eryk Goczał won the category at the age of 18.
In 2024, the Goczał family moved up to the Challenger category, where Eryk again led midway through the rally before being disqualified along with his uncle, Michał Goczał, for using irregular clutch components. Marek Goczał later withdrew from the race.
In 2025, the Goczał family's Energylandia team did not compete in the Dakar Rally.
On Sunday, Eryk Goczał, with co-driver Szymon Gospodarczyk, finished 13 minutes and 30 seconds behind the winner.
With prologue results not counting toward the car category standings, Marek Goczał is fifth overall after Stage 1.
Elsewhere, Poland’s Konrad Dąbrowski finished third on Stage 1 in the Rally 2 motorbike category.
Dąbrowski is also third overall, 4 minutes and 15 seconds behind the leader, South Africa's Michael Docherty.
Including factory riders, Dąbrowski is 13th overall in the Rally 2 class, 13 minutes and 32 seconds behind Spain’s Edgar Canet.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, Dakar Rally