Al-Attiyah claims 4th Dakar title
JEDDAH: Qatari driver Nasser al-Attiyah won the Dakar Rally for a fourth time after the gruelling two-week trek through the Saudi Arabian desert came to a climax yesterday.
The 51-year-old — champion in 2011, 2015 and 2019 — took the overall honours by almost half an hour from France’s nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb.
Earlier yesterday, British motorbike rider Sam Sunderland claimed his second Dakar Rally crown, 3min 27sec ahead of Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla. Austrian Matthias Walkner was third.
“I honestly can’t be happier,” said Sunderland.
“This last stage was so difficult and so much stress.”
Al-Attiyah — bronze medallist in skeet shooting at the 2012 London Olympics — led from start to finish to secure his first win in Saudi Arabia after two runners-up spots.
“It was an incredible Dakar for us,” said the Toyota driver.
“We hadn’t won since 2019. There were three solid teams capable of winning.
“Matthieu [Baumel, his French codriver] and I, the team, we all did a good job to win.
“We had finished second every time since we came to Saudi Arabia two years ago, now we’re really happy to achieve our goal. The whole race went without a hitch.”
The final stage was won by South Africa’s Henk Lategan.