The Latest Breaking News from Nasser AlAttiyah

Following up on his third stage win at this year’s event, Loeb looked set to carve more time out of Sainz’s overall advantage as he led the Spaniard by three minutes, and nearest rival Ekstrom by one minute, entering the final 100km of the Al Duwadimi to Ha’il stage.

Loeb made a low-key start to Sunday’s 483km test between Riyadh and Al-Duwadimi, but the nine-time World Rally champion was gradually able to make his way to the front, taking his third stage victory of the year with a margin of 7m06s over Toyota’s Lucas Moraes.

In an ultra-competitive Al Duwadimi to Al Salamiya pass covering 438km, which saw the stage lead swap between multiple runners, a four-way victory fight developed between Toyota’s Moraes, Audi’s Mattias Ekstrom, Overdrive’s Al-Rajhi and defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah for Prodrive. 

Dakar Rally veteran Stephane Peterhansel notched up a record-equalling 50th stage win on Sunday as Spanish rider Carles Falcon was reported in a "serious condition" after crashing in Saudi Arabia.

Peterhansel had suffered a bruising start to his 35th appearance at the Dakar on Saturday, as a spate of punctures left him 30 minutes off the front. 

Australian motorcyling duo Toby Price and Danierl Sanders had a tough day at the Dakar Rally while the Spanish prologue winner crashed out.

Sainz finished second on day one of the Dakar Rally, falling 1m44s short of stage winner Guillaume de Mevius in Saudi Arabia. 

The Dakar Rally roars into life on Friday in Saudi Arabia with Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah seeking a sixth title and third in a row in the mythic motorsport marathon.

The 2024 Dakar Rally will be the fifth successive event to take place entirely in Saudi Arabia, but organiser ASO has laid out a route that will be vastly different to previous years.