South African driver Henk Lategan won the fifth stage of the Dakar Rally on Thursday as three-time champion Nasser al-Attiyah retained his overall lead.
Riyadh – South African driver Henk Lategan won the fifth stage of the Dakar Rally on Thursday as three-time champion Nasser al-Attiyah retained his overall lead.
Lategan claimed his first Dakar stage win in his Toyota, finishing one minute and 58 seconds quicker than nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb.
Frenchman Loeb, though, still trails Qatar’s al-Attiyah by more than half an hour, sitting second in the overall standings.
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Al-Attiyah had to settle for eighth on the day, but only lost 2mins and 55secs to Loeb.
The 51-year-old, a 2012 Olympic shooting medallist, last won the title in 2019 and has finished second in four of the last six years.
Argentinian Lucio Alvarez reached the finish line after the 421km special in Saudi Arabia third in the stage and remains third overall.
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In the bikes category, Australian Toby Price took the stage honours after the special was halted early due to logistical problems.
The two-time winner moved up to 12th overall, still more than 30 minutes behind leader Sam Sunderland of Britain, who won the title in 2017.
The 2022 race has been marred by the injuries suffered by French driver Philippe Boutron in a blast being investigated by French prosecutors as a suspected terror attack.
Boutron’s son said earlier on Thursday his father had emerged from a coma following the explosion on December 30, days before the start of the Dakar.
AFP
