The Toyota driver was furious at a Balance of Performance tweak which gave cars in the T1.U class using renewable energies – effectively main rivals Audi – an additional 8kW which equates to 11bhp ahead of Thursday's stage, stating it would "kill the race early".
But on the 373km sand and dune-covered stage, the second loop around Ha'il, the defending Dakar Rally champion saw off attacks from Audi duo Stephane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz Sr to take the stage win by 1m57s from Sainz.
