RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Some things occur with almost unfailing regularity.
Nasser Al Attiyah’s stage victories are among them, like Japanese cherry trees in bloom in spring or the people of northern France heading to the French Riviera’s beaches when summer arrives.
As regards the Qatari driver, his successes are even more predictable when a special takes place among the dunes, the terrain on which he has conquered his five titles on the Dakar.
From the start in Hail this morning, the conditions were therefore right for Nasser to go on the attack, especially as he was the 15th driver to begin.
At the finishing line, having shown the extent of his skill without overdoing it, he picked up his 49th stage on the Dakar to continue a series of 19 consecutive editions with a minimum of one special success to add to his roll of honor, including when he dropped out of the rally early. His performance today puts him at the top of the overall rankings on the rest day, after overtaking and then pulling away from Henk Lategan to leave the South African 6’10’’ behind.
As they reached the Saudi capital, this good news was accompanied by more for the Dacia team, which achieved its first one-two finish on the Dakar thanks to the second place obtained by Sébastien Loeb. His mission to climb back up the overall rankings is underway, albeit at a moderate pace, but the man from Alsace has still moved from 8th to 6th place, 17’36’’ behind Al Attiyah.
Behind Al Attiyah and Lategan, the top trio in the overall rankings is completed by Nani Roma, who has not enjoyed such success since 2019, at the end of the Dakar’s South American era. The Catalan driver, trailing the race leader by 9’13’’, finds himself as the leading representative of the Ford clan, who will be capable of exerting maximum pressure for the rest of the rally. Carlos Sainz in his Raptor is still in the reckoning for outright triumph, in 4th place 11’49’’ behind Al Attiyah, as is Mattias Ekstrom, occupying 5th, 12’11’’ behind the Qatari.
