Dakar 2023: Al-Attiyah in command as disaster strikes Audi on Stage 6 – Saudi Gazette

Dakar 2023: Al-Attiyah in command as disaster strikes Audi on Stage 6 – Saudi Gazette

HAIL — Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah made a major step towards winning the 2023 Dakar Rally after he took victory on Stage 6 and his Audi rivals Carlos Sainz and Stephane Peterhansel suffered costly crashes.

Sebastien Loeb led another powerful recovery by Bahrain Raid Xtreme in the Dakar Rally Friday, as Al Attiyah gained a huge overall lead when his three closest rivals were removed from contention.

Loeb and Fabian Lurquin in their BRX Prodrive Hunter set the second fastest time on the 358km sixth stage from Hail to Riyadh to collect more valuable points in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC).

Making it a rewarding day all round for the Prodrive Hunters, Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq took fourth place on the day, with Lithuanians Vaidotas Zala and Paulo Fiuza recording the fifth best time.

Toyota’s Al-Attiyah and Peterhansel fought tooth and nail for much of the shortened 358km special between Hail and Riyadh, with Peterhansel reversing Al-Attiyah’s early advantage to grab the lead at the second checkpoint.

Peterhansel had built a buffer of well over a minute after crossing the timing mark at 207km, but disaster struck just minutes later when his Audi RS Q e-tron was involved in a major crash.

Such was the scale