Al-Attiyah wins his second title in a row because the check of endurance ends in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah gained his fifth Dakar Rally driver’s title and second in a row after the long-lasting check of endurance completed in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
The 52-year-old gained three levels and had greater than an hour’s benefit within the general standings on Sunday over Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, who was additionally runner-up final 12 months.
Al-Attiyah’s Toyota teammate Lucas Moraes of Brazil completed third. Al-Attiyah took the general lead after the third stage, having constructed up a commanding benefit within the first week and deployed a safety-first technique within the second half of the race.
Loeb gave all of it he may as he gained a report six successive levels within the second week for the Bahrain Raid Xtreme group. However the 48-year-old Frenchman had misplaced a lot time on the primary a part of the race that it was a misplaced trigger.
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Nasser al-Attiyah, proper, and co-driver Mathieu Baumel have fun successful the automotive class [Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters]
The Qatari, who led from stage three as rivals hit hassle, now ranks second within the record of all-time winners within the automotive class behind eight-time champion Stephane Peterhansel of France.
Peterhansel, the “Mr Dakar” who retired from this 12 months’s version after crashing his electrical hybrid Audi, has additionally gained the bike crown six occasions.
Benavides takes bike title
The bike title race had loads of thrills and spills.
Kevin Benavides – the 2021 champion – edged out Australian Toby Value by 43 seconds with Skyler Howes of the US ending third.
Benavides – who celebrated his thirty fourth birthday through the race – trailed two-time champion Value by 12 seconds coming into Sunday’s 14th and last stage.
He produced a sterling trip to win the stage, nonetheless, and publish a time 55 seconds sooner than his 35-year-old rival.
Benavides’s win might be a well-liked one as he selflessly stopped to help stricken rival Matthias Walkner in Saturday’s penultimate stage.
“It’s unbelievable to tug off the win on the finish of this fully loopy Dakar, and with such a small hole,” Benavides mentioned.
“I’m additionally the primary to win with two totally different bike manufacturers, and that makes me very proud,” he added.
It dropped at an finish an enchanting battle for supremacy within the bike part which had seen Howes lead for six days.
Value couldn’t disguise his disappointment regardless of praising Benavides for doing a “nice job”.
“Yeah, onerous to take for the time being, however on the finish of the day I’m going residence in a single piece and we acquired a Dakar trophy,” he mentioned.
“It hurts somewhat bit.”