Agencies/TNN
Riyadh
Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah moved up into second place in the overall standings of Dakar Rally following the third stage in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
South African driver Saood Variawa - Toyota Gazoo Racing claimed the third stage in the Ultimate car category, finishing the stage in 3 hours, 16 minutes, and 52 seconds, 33 seconds ahead of French driver Guerlain Chicherit of X-raid Mini. American Seth Quintero of Toyota Gazoo Racing finished third, 1 minute and 48 seconds behind.
Al Attiyah, a five-time Dakar Rally champion, finished sixth, 3 minutes and 34 seconds behind stage winner. He took advantage of Saudi driver Yazeed Al Rajhi’s drop to 17th place in the stage, moving up to second in overall standings and narrowing the gap between himself and South Africa’s Henk Lategan, the current leader.
Henk Lategan, driving for Toyota, remains in first place overall with a time of 19:04:53, followed by Nasser Al Attiyah 7 minutes and 17 seconds behind, and Swedish driver Mattias Ekstrom of Ford in third, 9 minutes and 34 seconds behind.
Yazeed Al Rajhi dropped to fourth place, 11 minutes and 45 seconds behind, while Brazilian driver Lucas Moraes of Toyota Gazoo Racing is in fifth, 19 minutes and 40 seconds behind.
Meanwhile, Sebastien Loeb struggled to complete Stage 3 after rolling his car near the start. The nine-time World Rally Champion went off the road 12 kilometres into the 327-stage between Bisha and Al Henakiyah.
After a nasty bounce his Dacia performed several impressive rolls, which seriously damaged the vehicle. The 50-year-old Frenchman and his Belgian co-driver Fabian Lurquin set off again after a five-minute stop for repairs, but struggled throughout the rest of the stage.
“We were able to continue but suddenly the steering rod broke, I think because of the rollover,” said Loeb at the finish.
“Then we had a problem with the engine overheating. We tried to finish the stage. We managed to do so, but we lost an hour.
“It wasn’t the kind of day we prefer. We lost an hour and we got the feeling that we were in ‘it’ up to our necks. We’ll keep on racing and we’ll see, even if winning the Rally is starting to look complicated.”
With rain forecast, the stage was shortened from the original 496 km.
In the motorbike competition, Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino, riding a Sherco and making his seventh appearance in the Dakar Rally, won a stage for the first time.
Australian Daniel Sanders still leads the overall standings.
The Rally through Saudi Arabia ends on January 17 in the Empty Quarter desert.
