Saudi driver’s pain is Al-Attiyah’s gain
RIYADH: Dakar Rally leader Nasser AlAttiyah took Wednesday’s fourth stage in Riyadh after Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi was caught out by a speeding penalty.
The home hope led the timings after the 465km trek across the desert from Qaisumah.
But a two minute sanction dropped him down to fifth, with Al-Attiyah handed the stage to add to his success in the prologue and first stage.
The Qatari, seeking a fourth Dakar title behind the wheel of a Toyota, pulled a further 25 seconds clear of Sebastien Loeb in the overall car rankings to lead the French rally star by 38min and 05sec.
“We are moving in the right direction day after day,” commented Al-Attiyah, whose Dakar titles came driving for three different constructors — Volkswagen in 2011, Mini in 2015 and Toyota four years later.
Loeb, runner-up in the stage ahead of Carlos Sainz in Audi’s new hybrid, had his prospects of overall victory dented on Tuesday after his car’s propshaft broke after just 10km.
Wednesday’s testing stage, the longest on this year’s route, caught out Spain’s Nani Roma, winner on two wheels in 2004 and four wheels in 2014, and France’s Guerlain Chicherit.
Both walked away unscathed after crashes, their cars turned upside down.
In the bike category, Spain’s Joan Barreda Bort notched up his second stage win in three days — his 29th career special stage win in the race — with Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla in second.
Rui Goncalves was third to earn his first Dakar podium finish. The 36-yearold Portuguese broke his arm in the run up to last year’s debut.
Briton Sam Sunderland led the overall standings by three minutes over 2018 winner Matthias Walkner of Austria.
The Dakar, now in its 44th edition, is one of the most dangerous and gruelling motorsport events.
It started in 1978 as a race from Paris to the Senegalese capital of Dakar but moved from Africa to South America for safety reasons in 2009. It is now held entirely in Saudi Arabia.