Dacia driver Nasser Al-Attiyah bounced again from mechanical points to win the fifth stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally on Thursday and climb as much as fourth within the general standings.
Having misplaced half an hour with a puncture and a damaged rear suspension on Wednesday, the Qatari driver dominated the 428km check between Al-Ula and Ha’il to place himself firmly again in rivalry for the general victory.
X-raid Mini driver Guerlain Chicherit set the early tempo on a route made up largely of sand and grime, whereas Ford’s Mattias Ekstrom additionally loved a short stint on the entrance after leaping to first place on the 87km mark.
However neither driver had a solution to five-time Dakar winner Al-Attiyah, who shortly started to drag away from the competitors after taking the lead 173km into the stage.
Extending his benefit by virtually seven minutes within the brief 40km run between checkpoints eight and 9, the Qatar driver ultimately reached the end line with a powerful margin of 9m59s.
This was the primary time a non-Toyota driver topped a stage in Dakar 2025, with all 4 earlier phases having been gained by both the manufacturing facility group or its buyer squad, Overdrive.
Behind Al-Attiyah, Ekstrom appeared set to complete second having retaken the spot from Toyota rival and general chief Henk Lategan on the penultimate checkpoint. However each had been leapfrogged on the very finish by a charging Seth Quintero in one other manufacturing facility Hilux, leaving them third and fourth within the ultimate order and separated by only one minute.
#226 Ford M-Sport Ford: Mattias Ekstrom, Emil Bergkvist
Photograph by: Purple Bull Content material Pool
Stage 4 winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Overdrive Toyota) had a quite lacklustre outing en path to fifth place, 11m13s down on Al-Attiyah.
Lucas Moraes drove his manufacturing facility Toyota to sixth forward of Ford’s Mitch Guthrie Jr in seventh, in what was a blended day for the American producer.
Whereas each Ekstrom and Guthrie Jr fared properly, Nani Roma suffered a head-on collision with MD Rally Sport driver Simon Vitse. The 2-time Dakar champion was unhurt however his Raptor sustained heavy harm within the accident.
Mini’s lead contender Chicherit additionally bumped into bother mid-way by means of the stage, dropping virtually half an hour behind the leaders. He was provisionally categorised tenth.
Going into the remaining day in Ha’il on Friday, Lategan continues his stranglehold on the highest spot within the general standings, along with his lead over Al-Rajhi extending to 10m24s.
Ekstrom holds third place in the perfect of the Fords, whereas Al-Attiyah is fourth and 25 minutes down on Lategan with seven phases nonetheless to run within the second week of Dakar.
Moraes, Guthrie Jr and Century’s Matthieu Serradori are subsequent up in fifth, sixth and eighth respectively, all sitting inside an hour of Lategan with half the rally nonetheless to run.
Dakar 2025 – Outcomes after Stage 5 (Prime 10)
Pos
Driver
Automobile
Time/Hole
1
Henk Lategan
Toyota
28h10m11s
2
Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Toyota
10m17s
3
Mattias Ekstrom
Ford
20m54s
4
Nasser Al-Attiyah
Dacia
25m00s
5
Lucas Moraes
Toyota
41m55s
6
Mitch Guthrie Jr
Ford
42m44s
7
Matthieu Serradori
Century
45m59s
8
Juan Cruz Yacopini
Toyota
1h03m17s
9
Seth Quintero
Toyota
1h30m10s
10
Guerlain Chicherit
Mini
1h38m45s
Images from Dakar Rally Stage 5
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