Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah wins first Dakar Rally special stage
Qatari looking ot win race for fourth time, with Loeb second
Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah won the first special of the Dakar Rally on Sunday to extend his race lead after victory in the prologue.
The 51-year-old, looking to win the race for the fourth time, finished the stage 12 minutes and seven seconds quicker than nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb in second place.
The 333km loop around northern Saudi Arabia saw several competitors suffer navigational difficulties, resulting in large time gaps.
Record 14-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel, nicknamed “Monsieur Dakar”, lost a lot of time after a puncture to his Audi.
Australian Daniel Sanders extended his early lead in the bikes category, beating Chilean Pablo Quintanilla by 3mins and 7secs on Sunday.