AlUla, Saudi Arabia — Local driver Yazeed Al Rajhi stormed back into the Dakar Rally’s leading threesome when he dominated the fourth stage in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Al Rajhi started 18th in Al Henakiyah and was in front by the first time check in volcanic terrain and never headed on the 415-kilometer (258-mile) course north through canyons to AlUla.
His Toyota beat home Henk Lategan’s Toyota by nearly five minutes and cut into the South African’s overall lead. Al Rajhi was less than seven minutes back.
He rebounded from a four-minute penalty for excessive speeding on Tuesday, which dropped Al Rajhi to fourth overall.
Al Rajhi is competing in his 11th Dakar, with a best finish of third in 2022. This was his eighth career stage win. The world rally-raid championship runner-up for the last two years has drawn a lot of support from his Saudi countrymen.
Mattias Ekström remained third overall but the Swede dropped more than 12 minutes to be nearly 22 minutes behind.
The biggest loser was five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah, who started the day second overall but fell to seventh.
Al-Attiyah suffered a puncture then broke a rear suspension arm. The Qatari was 45 minutes behind on the stage but reduced that to 33 minutes by the finish. “My only option is to attack,” he said.
Overall, he was nearly 36 minutes behind Lategan and the last former winner in contention.
One-time champions Giniel de Villiers was 2 1/2 hours behind and Nani Roma was reduced to a support role after being hit with a 52-hour penalty.
Another title contender was ruled out when Sebastien Loeb withdrew. The damage to his roll cage when his car rolled on Tuesday didn’t pass inspection in the morning, forcing out the three-time runner-up.
The four-wheel debut of Toby Price and Sam Sunderland, both two-time champions on motorbikes, also appeared to be over after they called a service truck less than 100 kilometers from the finish. They began the day sixth overall.
Sanders wins four stages
Australian Daniel Sanders extended his overall motorbike lead after becoming the first rider in four years to win four stages in a single Dakar.
Sanders was gifted the stage win after more than five hours in the saddle when Spain’s Tosha Schareina, the leader for about 200 kilometers, deliberately slowed down at the end to let Sanders win by 15 seconds.
Schareina said he didn’t want to open the way on Friday’s 428-kilometer track east to Ha’il to complete the two-day marathon stage.
Sanders was OK with it.
“A little bit of cat and mouse at the end,” he said. “I knew it was a good chance to extend the overall lead after I lost so much time yesterday, which was out of my control. Tomorrow, the pressure’s back on to try and not lose too much and open really well. But this area is definitely going to be hard, and the navigation’s tricky.”
Overall, Sanders’ KTM led Schareina’s Honda by more than 13 minutes. Ross Branch’s Hero was 26 minutes back in third. Three more Hondas, including defending champion Ricky Brabec, were within another three more minutes.
