WADI AD-DAWASIR, Saudi Arabia – Nasser Al-Attiyah closed the gap to overall Dakar Rally leader Stephane Peterhansel with his second-straight stage victory on Tuesday.
Al-Attiyah lost 12 minutes to the leaders in the opening stage on Sunday, but has since made up that lost time with two-straight stage victories. Peterhansel’s lead is now down to just more than five minutes over Al-Attiyah after his victory in Tuesday’s 406 kilometer stage.
Second in Tuesday’s stage went to Al-Attiyah’s Toyota teammate Henk Lategan, who finished just more than two minutes behind Al-Attiyah.
Meanwhile, Tony Price picked up another stage victory in the motorcycle division, beating Kevin Benavides by one minute and 16 seconds. However, American privateer Skyler Howes now finds himself at the top of the class by a scant 33 seconds over Benavides.
Nicholas Cavigliasso picked up the stage victory in the quad division, with Giovanni Enrico holding the class lead by more than four minutes. Siarhei Viazovich narrowly won the truck class Tuesday by 18 seconds over Dmitry Sotnikov, who continues to hold a lead in excess of 16 minutes in the class.
In the lightweight division, Francisco Lopez Contardo added to his class lead with a stage victory on Tuesday. He now leads the class by more than six minutes.