AL-ATTIYAH EDGES OUT DAKAR LEAD

Toyota’s Nasser Al-Attiyah continued his dominance of Dakar 2022, taking yet another stage win.

The Qatari driver took out the longest stage, the 465km completive kilometres between Al Qaisumah and Riyadh. Edging out his lead in the overall standings out to 38 minutes.

“It wasn’t too easy because we caught up with several vehicles at the start of the special and we decided to play it safe.”

“The finale was very difficult, especially the part in the wadi, with plenty of navigation. Matthieu did an excellent job and I’m pleased.”

“We are moving in the right direction day after day. We tried to set a high pace, but our plan was not having to open tomorrow because there will be no bikes and, therefore, no tracks.”

“But, even if we falter a bit tomorrow in these conditions, it will put us in a favourable position for the next day.”

Sebastien Loeb in the Prodrive BRX attempted to regain lost time after yesterdays issues, but was only able to set the second fastest time on the stage losing a few more seconds to Al-Attiyah.

“Overall, the special went without a hitch. We had to go fast while making sure not to hit a rock.” said Loeb.

“We focused on the navigation and set a high pace. We ended up third, but having three cars within 40 seconds after 450 kilometres shows just how close this is.”

“Finishing behind Nasser today to start behind him tomorrow is a good trade-off. There won’t be any bikes at the front, so the first cars will regroup, so it’s not bad at all.”

“Tomorrow will be difficult: a big stage where things can happen. At any rate, our confidence in the car has been restored. It was a clean special.”

Audi continued to push, gathering information on their inaugural Dakar campaign. Carlos Sainz ended the day third fastest.

However the teething issues in the second entry of Stephane Peterhansel continued. The Fenchman suffered another suspension failure which caused significant damage to his Audi RS Q e-tron and he was struck with another penalty for failing to finish the stage.

Local Saudi Arabian driver Yazeed Al Rajhi in the Overdrive Toyota entry set the fastest time through the competitive section, but was given a 2 minute penalty for speeding in the liaison section relocating him down to fifth for the day.

South African Henk Lategan led much of the days stage in the second factory Toyota entry, but ended up beached losing nearly 6 hours while waiting to be recovered.

SSV

Australian Molly Taylor had a tough day in the SSV competition, dropping three hours on the stage.

The Can-Am driver made a slight navigational error early in the stage, but ran into more significant issues when she took a rough landing over one of the dunes with damaged much of the suspension.

Forced to wait for a truck with spare parts, Taylor was eventually able to get back underway and complete the stage. However she dropped to 43rd overall.

Taylor’s teammate Austin Jones continues to lead the class.

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