The Al-Hofuf to Shubaytah Stage 5 covered the shortest special stage distance of this year’s Dakar Rally at 118km, to provide small respite before the two-day marathon stage begins tomorrow, which will see competitors stop on Thursday and camp overnight and resume on Friday.
The stage was contested entirely on sand dune terrain, with Al-Attiyah quickest throughout in his Nasser Racing-entered Prodrive Hunter, and he eventually picked up the stage win – the 48th Dakar Rally stage triumph of his career – by 1m51s from Overdrive Toyota’s Guerlain Chicherit.
