Nasser Al Attiyah yesterday won stage 10 of the Dakar Rally and extended his overall lead by over 28 minutes, putting him within distance of securing a second title, after first triumphing in 2011.
The Qatari, behind the wheel of a Mini, finished yesterday’s stage one minute 35 seconds over Argentinean Orlando Terranova with Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi further back three minutes 39 seconds in third.
Title challenger South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers, also driving a Mini, again had a poor day at the office, finishing the stage in fifth position four minutes 42 seconds behind the leader.
In the overall classification though, Al Attiyah now has a 28m 22s cushion over de Villiers and with three days to go before the finish in Buenos Aires, the Qatari looks on course to seal his second Dakar title, unless he hits trouble over the course of the next 72 hours.
In 2011, Al Attiyah became the first Arab to secure the Dakar title.
Significantly for the region, Al Rajhi’s overall third position behind a Hilux Toyota marks a remarkable achievement thus far given that this is his Dakar debut.
Meanwhile, in the bikes categ-ory, Joan Barreda of Spain rode his Honda to a third stage win, with defending champion Marc Coma extending his overall lead to nearly eight minutes with three days to go.
Barrada’s chances of overall victory were shattered when he lost more than four hours with mechanical problems on the stage to Iquique, Chile, on Monday.
He had better luck on the run to Salta and crossed the line more than 90sec ahead of KTM’s Coma and nearly two minutes in front of Portugal’s Ruben Faria.
Four-time champion Coma added nearly two minutes to his advantage over his closest rival in the overall standings, Honda rider Paulo Goncalves of Portugal, who only came home fifth on the stage.
Should Spain’s Coma be crowned champion at the end of the race on Saturday in Buenos Aires, it will be the 14th straight triumph for Austrian constructor KTM.
