Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) maintained his second place overall in the Dakar Rally, which is being held in Saudi Arabia for the seventh consecutive year, despite finishing only 16th in the fifth marathon stage, a stage dominated by the Ford Raptor, which claimed the top three positions.
For the first time since the start of the 48th edition of the rally, the overall lead remained unchanged. South African Henk Lategan (Toyota) became the first driver to lead the general classification for two consecutive stages, despite finishing 17th, around 13 minutes behind stage winner Mitchell Guthrie of the United States.
After spending the night at the bivouac without any mechanical assistance, the drivers completed the second half of the marathon stage. Guthrie secured victory with a margin of 1 minute 06 seconds and 2 minutes 14 seconds over his teammates, Spain’s Nani Roma and Czech driver Martin Prokop, respectively. This marked Guthrie’s second stage win of the rally, having also claimed victory in Stage Three.
Guthrie benefited from a 1 minute and 10 second penalty imposed on Roma, which allowed him to take first place. Al-Attiyah, who is chasing his sixth Dakar title, finished 16th, 12 minutes and 5 seconds behind the winner, and also received a two-minute penalty. Nevertheless, he retained second place overall, trailing Lategan by 3 minutes and 17 seconds.
By finishing second in this stage, Roma moved up from seventh to fourth overall, overtaking five-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz (Ford), who finished fifth in Thursday’s stage.
French World Rally Championship legend Sébastien Loeb (Dacia) finished 12th in the stage, which covered 428 kilometres, including 327 kilometres against the clock, more than eight minutes behind Guthrie. Loeb now sits eighth overall, 18 minutes and 28 seconds behind the leader.
The nine-time WRC champion, who has yet to win the Dakar Rally after nine attempts, has adopted a cautious strategy this year. Speaking to L’Équipe at the end of the stage, he said:
“I took too many risks for years and the results were not good, so this year I’m easing off.”
Despite opening the route in Stage Five, Lategan managed to limit his time losses to his closest rivals, even though leading the stage usually presents difficult conditions.
His co-driver, fellow South African Brett Cummings, said:
“Navigation was extremely difficult today, with many hard-to-find tracks and rocks. You had to stay on the correct line.”
During this stage, the motorcycle route differed from the car route, further complicating matters for the early runners, who usually benefit from following motorcycle tyre tracks to stay on the correct racing line.
Stage Six will be the longest stage of the 48th edition of the rally, as competitors travel from Hail to Riyadh on Friday, covering 920 kilometres, including 331 kilometres timed.
