Al-Attiyah back in the lead at the Dakar Rally – “My head and body have taken a real beating”

Wednesday’s programme featured the second part of the marathon stage, covering a distance of 420 kilometres. The demanding special stage truly separated the contenders from the rest.

French driver Mathieu Serradori claimed a clear stage victory in his Century car, finishing more than six minutes ahead of Dacia driver Nasser Al-Attiyah. Another Dacia driver, Sébastien Loeb, completed the top three for the day.

Al-Attiyah moved into the overall lead after Ford drivers Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz, who had led the rally prior to Wednesday’s stage, both lost significant time.

“It was very tough. My head and body have taken a real beating. But we really attacked from start to finish,” Al-Attiyah said.

“The car is fine, but I’m wrecked. It’s not that I am too old, but my body’s been through a lot, especially my neck,” he added.

After returning to the top of the standings, Al-Attiyah now holds a 12-minute overall lead over Toyota driver Henk Lategan. Roma dropped from first place to third, behind Lategan.

Loeb, meanwhile, climbed a couple of positions to fourth overall. He now trails the Dakar Rally leader by 23 minutes.

The biggest loser of the day was four-time Dakar winner Sainz, who finished a massive 45 minutes behind Serradori’s stage-winning time. The Spanish veteran is now seventh overall, 39 minutes off the lead.

“We didn’t manage to find a waypoint. We didn’t find it, so we lost 15 minutes. We looked everywhere. It was tough for us,” Sainz said. He was also handed a 15-minute time penalty.

The Dakar Rally continues on Thursday with a 346-kilometre stage. The event concludes on Saturday.

Dakar Rally standings after stage 10/13: