Al Attiyah builds big Dakar Rally lead as three top challengers hit trouble in Saudi

 

 

Dakar Rally reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah’s chances of retaining the title got a big boost on Friday as record 14 times winner Stephane Peterhansel crashed out on the sixth stage in Saudi Arabia while Audi team mate Carlos Sainz also hit trouble.

Saudi’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, who was third place after the stage 5, also hit trouble as his Toyota ground to a halt after 216 km.

Four times champion Al-Attiyah won the sandy stage, his third victory of this year’s event, finishing nearly three and a half minutes clear of France’s nine times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb.

Another tricky and ultimately punishing leg crossing demanding dunes halted all three of Al Attiyah’s nearest challengers in quick succession. With three closest rivals were removed from contention Al Attiyah extended his overall lead by 1 hour 6 mins 50 secs overall from his South African team-mate, Henk Lategan.

Sebastien Loeb led another powerful recovery by Bahrain Raid Xtreme in the as he along with Fabian Lurquin in their BRX Prodrive Hunter set the second fastest time on the 358km sixth stage from Ha’il to Riyadh to collect more valuable points in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC).

Making it a rewarding day all round for the Prodrive Hunters, Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq took fourth place on the day, with Lithuanians Vaidotas Zala and Paulo Fiuza recording the fifth best time.

Loeb’s climb into sixth place overall was a tribute to his powers of concentration, and the resilience of the BRX team, following a succession of misfortunes this week.

Lying second overnight, 14-time winner Peterhansel went out after 212km following an accident which resulted in co-driver Edouard Boulanger being evacuated by the medical team to hospital in Buraydah to undergo further examinations on a back injury.

Peterhansel’s fourth-placed Audi team-mate, Sainz, had an accident at the same place and was carrying out repairs before re-starting, while Saudi’s Yazeed Al Rajhi plunged from third position when his Toyota ground to a halt after 216 km.

Three top five finishes on the day was a powerful reminder of the all-round capability of the BRX Prodrive Hunter, which brought back-to-back rally victories for Chicherit in Morocco and Loeb in Andalucia two months ago, to round of the 2022 W2RC.

Despite a flurry of punctures and other setbacks dropping the Hunters down the overall standings, Loeb had a hat-trick of Dakar stage wins in his sights for BRX yesterday before a hole on the side of a dune tipped his car onto its side.

The nine-time World Rally Champion and Stage 4 winner will now continue his pursuit of W2RC points on tomorrow’s 333km stage from Riyadh to Al Duwadimi, with BRX confident of  challenging for more stage victories up to the finish in Dammam on 15th  January.