Toyota factory team driver Nasser Al-Attiyah finished first in the fifth stage of the Dakar rally raid near Hail, extending his lead over the closest pursuer in the individual standings to 22 minutes.
For Al-Attiyah, today’s victory was the second in 2023. At the start of the stage, Audi driver Stefan Petransel took the lead, but at about 234 kilometers the Toyota leader took the lead. Petransel and Carlos Sainz Sr. tried to take the lead on the strip of sand and dunes, but Al-Attiya held onto the position.
Yesterday’s stage winner Sebastien Loeb was also battling in the top four, but 18 kilometers from the line the French driver spun the car – Loeb got back into the race, but lost more than fifteen minutes to this. At the finish, Sebastien was ninth, almost twenty minutes behind.
Nasserr Al-Attiyah took the stage to victory, leading Sainz Sr. by 1 minute 57 seconds. Petransel finished third, 3 minutes and 44 seconds back. According to the results of the stage, Stefan rose to second place in the individual classification – his lead over Al-Attiyah is 22 minutes and 36 seconds.
Yazid Al-Rajhi, who was second until today, couldn’t keep up with the leaders and finished fourth, 8 minutes and 42 seconds behind. In the individual standings he drops to third place and is 7 minutes and 51 seconds ahead of closest pursuer Sainz Sr.
The sixth stage of the Dakar between Hail and Al-Duwadimi is scheduled for Friday.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
