Sainz’s team-mate Mattias Ekstrom led the majority of the 367km special near Sea Camp in Saudi Arabia, the former DTM ace grabbing the lead at the first checkpoint and steadily building his advantage from there.
But the complexion of the stage changed completely between the final two checkpoints, with Sainz producing a heroic effort to jump from fourth - and more than two minutes down - to clinch his 42nd career stage win in the Dakar Rally.
