Al-Attiyah seals fifth Dakar win, Taylor records PB finish

Nasser Al-Attiyah lifted the Bedouin Trophy for a fifth time after he cruised to a dominant Dakar Rally win.

Al-Attiyah won the 2023 Dakar Rally by 1H 20’ 49” over Sebastien Loeb, who completed a remarkable comeback to snare second from impressive rookie Lucas Moraes.

Al-Attiyah may had only won three stages, but he was ultra consistent, finishing a stage no lower than 13th and leading the overall classification from day three.

The Qatari born Toyota driver now sits second behind Stephane Peterhansel and ahead of Ari Vatanen in the list of the most Dakar Rally wins.

“We just finished and I’m so happy,” Al-Attiyah said after claiming his second victory in as many years.

“It was a difficult Dakar for everyone. It’s crazy to manage to defend my title. 

“I’m very happy to win five times, and (co-driver) Mathieu (Baumel) four… Sorry, Mathieu! 

“I respect Ari (Vatanen) enormously, he’s still my idol. I always want to win more and more, now I want to defend my world champion’s title. 

“We didn’t have to attack like crazy. We managed to get through the second week and win the Dakar at the end, that’s what really matters.”

Chicherit ends Loeb’s run

Guerlain Chicherit stormed through the sand to win the final stage of the Dakar Rally. Image: Green Corp/Guerlain Chicherit Facebook

With the cars overall classification effectively sealed, the biggest question heading into the final stage was could anyone stop Sebastien Loeb?

Loeb had won the previous six stages on the bounce – the most ever – and was determined to keep his momentum going all the way to the finish after a tough first week.

He and the rest of the field encountered a 136km special from Al-Hofuf to Dammam covered with sand to complete the rally.

It was a competitive fight for first with no clear leader emerging with less than 10 minutes separating the top 21 finishers.

The times were even closer at the top of the timesheets with the top three covered by under two minutes.

With Loeb only registering a time good enough for sixth after receiving a two minute penalty, the race for stage victory was wide open.

Henk Lategan showed good pace for Toyota Gazoo Racing and could have finished as high as third, but he also received a two-minute penalty, which sent him back to fifth.

Eventually Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit seized on the opportunity and took his second stage win of the rally.

The GCK Motorsport edged out Team Audi Sport’s Mattias Ekstrom by one minute and 36 seconds.

Not far behind the top two were the X-Raid Mini JCW Team Sebastian Halpern and Jakub Pryzgonski.

Al-Attiyah completed his rally win with another calm drive to P8, while Loeb was the outlier in the overall standings being the only non-Toyota in the top five.

Loeb sat second and was trailed by Moraes, Giniel de Villiers and Lategan, while Benzina’s Martin Prokop was a comfortable sixth.

Juan Cruz Yacopini just edged out Wei Han for seventh as Chicherit’s stage win pushed him into the top 10 just behind Mini’s Halpern.

Taylor scores new Dakar high

Molly Taylor was all smiles after finishing her second Dakar Rally. Image: MCH Photography

After a Dakar Rally campaign featuring many ups and downs, Molly Taylor recorded her personal best finish at the famous event.

The 34-year-old Australian finished 12th in the T4 Modified Production SSV class, two spots higher than her rookie campaign in 2022.

However, Taylor had targeted a top 10 finish and was creeping back into contention after a string of promising results until a challenging final stage.

After three straight top 10 class stage results, the South Racing Can-Am driver could only manage 26th in the sandy final stage.

Despite the result, it was enough to hold onto 12th position in the class classification and both Taylor and co-driver Andrew Short were thrilled to complete the gruelling rally.

“We made it to the finish, it has been a pretty wild two weeks,” Taylor said after reaching the finish line.

“A lot of lows but also a lot of highs along the way.

“A massive thanks to Andrew (Short) I learnt so much from him.”

“It was a big opportunity to join Molly and more fun than expected,” said American co-driver Short.

“I am stocked to be at the finish with her.”

The T4 Modified Production SSV overall win went to Eryk Goczal by 16 minutes, Quad winner was Alexandre Giroud, Janus Van Kasteren, Darek Rodewald and Marcel Snijders dominated the trucks, Austin Jones comfortable won the T3 Lightweight Prototype category and Original honours went to Charan Moore.

2023 Dakar Rally Cars classification 

Pos Num Nat.     Drivers                                          Team                                           Time               Gap               Penalty time

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