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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 on Friday.
Al-Attiyah, who previously won in 2011, 2015 and 2019, took the overall honours by almost half an hour from France’s nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb.
British motorbike rider Sam Sunderland claimed his second Dakar Rally crown earlier in the day.
The final stage was marred by tragedy as 20-year-old French mechanic Quentin Lavallee was killed in a car accident.
Al-Attiyah – also a 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 51-year-old Toyota driver.
“We hadn’t won since 2019. There were three solid teams capable of winning. Matthieu (Baumel his French co-driver) 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 of the car race was won by South Africa’s Henk Lategan with the overall Dakar recordholder Stephane Peterhansel second in his electric hybrid Audi.
The German manufacturer had said prior to the race that it had no aspirations of winning the overall title in what was its first entry with a hybrid model but it did secure several stage wins.
‘My head can explode’
Sunderland, who in 2017 became the first British champion in either the car or bike category, finished 3 minutes and 27seconds ahead of Pablo Quintanilla of Chile and Matthias Walkner of Austria to take the chequered flag in Jeddah.
Sunderland, 32, dominated the first week but had to battle for the overall lead over the final days and surrendered it…
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Source : france24
