Nasser Al-Attiyah, reigning champion of the Dakar Rally, has achieved his first stage victory. This win has propelled him to the second position in the overall standings, closely trailing leader Yazeed Al-Rajhi. Stage 5, connecting Al-Hofuf with Shubaytah, featured the shortest route of this year at only 118 km, providing a brief respite before the challenging marathon stage starting tomorrow.
Al-Attiyah, aboard his Nasser Racing Prodrive Hunter, dominated the dune-filled route, finishing with a lead of 1 minute and 51 seconds over Guerlain Chicherit from Overdrive Toyota.
Juan Cruz Yacopini from Toyota secured the third position, closely followed by leader Al-Rajhi. Guillaume De Mevius, also from Toyota, completed the top five. On the other hand, Audi's Carlos Sainz lost over 9 minutes, dropping out of the top 10 for the stage and slipping to third place overall.
Mattias Ekstrom of Audi capitalized on the issues faced by Stage 3 winner Lucas Moraes (Toyota), moving up to the fourth position. Moraes encountered problems, losing 37 minutes and 16 seconds.
Sebastien Loeb of Prodrive faced a setback with a 15-minute penalty for missing a checkpoint, accumulating a total loss of 21 minutes and 13 seconds in the stage. This jeopardizes his chances of victory in the Dakar.
In the overall standings, Mathieu Serradori of Century Racing is in fifth place, with Stephane Peterhansel of Audi rising to sixth place despite a brief stop in the stage. Vaidotas Zala of X-Raid Mini advanced to seventh place.
| Pos. | Drivers | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N. Al-Attiyah (QAT), M. Baumel (FRA) | #200 - Nasser Racing | 1:37:25 |
| 2 | G. Chicherit (FRA), A. Winocq (FRA) | #211 - Overdrive Racing | +1:51 |
| 3 | J. Yacopini (ARG), D. Oliveras Carreras (ESP) | #205 - Overdrive Racing | +1:58 |
| 4 | Y. Al Rajhi (SAU), T. Gottschalk (DEU) | #201 - Overdrive Racing | +2:00 |
| 5 | G. De Mevius (BEL), X. Panseri (FRA) | #221 - Overdrive Racing | +3:08 |
| 6 | G. De Villiers (ZAF), D. Murphy (ZAF) | #209 - Toyota Gazoo Racing | +4:20 |
| 7 | M. Ekström (SWE), E. Bergkvist (SWE) | #207 - Team Audi Sport | +5:16 |
| 8 | M. Prokop (CZE), V. Chytká (CZE) | #208 - Orlen Jipocar Team | +5:41 |
| 9 | V. Zala (LTU), P. Fiuza (PRT) | #214 - X-Raid Arijus Team | +6:15 |
| 10 | M. Serradori (FRA), L. Minaudier (FRA) | #212 - Century Racing Factory Team | +8:40 |
