Nasser Al-Attiyah moved a step closer to a sixth Dakar Rally crown by claiming victory on the penultimate stage of the 2026 event on Friday.
The Dacia driver led the majority of the 311km test between Al Henakiyah and Yanbu, with Ford duo Mitch Guthrie and Mattias Ekstrom only briefly interrupting his hold during the day.
Al-Attiyah first shot to the front just before the 100km mark, dispatching early leader Guthrie as team-mate Sebastien Loeb briefly made it a 1-2 for Dacia.
Ekstrom snatched the top spot from Al-Attiyah at the third checkpoint, but the latter bounced back in the next 50km to reinstate the status quo.
The gap between the two remained under a minute for the next phase of the stage, but Al-Attiyah managed to extend his advantage to 1m38s at the final checkpoint before the finish, as Guthrie and Toyota’s Toby Price also joined the fight for victory.
In the final dash to the finish, Al-Attiyah managed to avoid any late drama to secure the stage win by 1m04s, sealing his second victory of 2026.
It also marked the 50th stage win of his illustrious Dakar career, drawing him level with record holders Stephane Peterhansel and Ari Vatanen as the most successful drivers in the rally’s history.
