Al-Attiyah saves the day, and Audi suffers once more

The seventh stage of the Dakar Rally took place this Saturday between Riyadh and Al Duwadimi without the participation of motorcycles. Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) saved the day by clearing the course, and the Spanish driver Carlos Sainz (Audi) returned to the test with a harsh penalty after quitting the stage on Friday.

Due to a technical issue with his Audi RS Q e-tron E2, the man from Madrid, who has won the Dakar three times (in 2010, 2018 and 2020), was forced to retire on Friday’s stage, incurring a 28-hour and 45-hour penalty. This left him with no choice but to pursue his fourth victory in the most difficult “raid” in the world.

This past Saturday, following a lengthy night of repairs, he started the special in 68th place and passed fourth by kilometer 38, passing his teammate Mattias Ekström by two seconds. At the second timed point, 90 kilometers, he advanced to second place, trailing Yazeed Al Rajhi by barely 14 seconds.

With this latest accident following those of the “Matador” and Stéphane Peterhansel, Audi is left with no real options to win the overall. Ekström, who had managed to take the lead halfway through the stage, was slowed down by a technical issue in his Audi, and it was Guerlain Chicherit who climbed to the provisional lead while Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz stopped to help him.

Finally, the Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota) managed to win the 333-kilometer special’s shortened stage with a time of 2:45:56, finishing 3:14 faster than Chicherit and 6:48 faster than the Lithuanian Vaidotas. Zala.

Al Attiyah, who finished 12th overall and was more than an hour (1:01:04) behind the Qatari driver, lost 5:46 to South African Henk Lategan, who won the stage. At 1:11:24, Brazilian Lucas Moraes of Toyota is third.

The motorcycle special was canceled by the organizers due to “today’s weather challenges and the significant level of weariness noted among all the riders in the category,” in their words.

The eighth stage, which has been rescheduled and has been shortened to 345 kilometers from the original route’s special stage 7, will be competed in by the competitors this coming Sunday. The commander of the general of two wheels is an American named Skyler Howes.