Nasser Al-Attiyah conquers the Dakar Rally with Dacia – “I feel this in my heart”

Al-Attiyah took a cautious approach on Saturday’s final stage, finishing only 36th. However, the Qatari’s lead proved sufficient, as he secured overall victory by just under ten minutes over Ford’s Nani Roma.

The win marked the first Dakar Rally victory for Dacia in the iconic desert event.

“It’s amazing to win this race. Fabian (navigator Lurquin) and the team did a good job,” Al-Attiyah said after the final stage.

“We have worked very hard since last year. Maybe I’m not showing much emotion right now, but really, I feel this in my heart,” he added.

Al-Attiyah faced his own setbacks during the rally, but he effectively sealed victory on the marathon stage in the final week of the event, where he built a decisive gap to his rivals.

“Then we had a good lead of 12 minutes. Yesterday we also did a good job, and at that point we knew we would be the winners of the Dakar,” Al-Attiyah explained.

Al-Attiyah now sits second on the all-time list of Dakar Rally victories, behind French legend Stéphane Peterhansel. Peterhansel has claimed eight wins in the car category and a further six victories in the motorcycle class.

“I still need to break Peterhansel’s record in cars,” Al-Attiyah said.

Swedish driver Mattias Ekström ultimately finished third in the Dakar, ending the rally just under 15 minutes behind Al-Attiyah. On the final stage, the Ford driver managed to keep Dacia’s Sébastien Loeb behind him by just over half a minute. Ekström’s chances of victory had effectively ended on stage nine, where he lost around 30 minutes.

Spanish veteran Carlos Sainz finished fifth overall in his Ford. His rally was compromised on stage ten, where he made a decisive navigation error and also received a 15-minute time penalty.

Dakar Rally results after stage 13/13: