NEOM, Saudi Arabia – Nasser Al-Attiyah closed the gap to overall leader Stephane Peterhansel with another stage victory on Tuesday during the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.
The X-Raid Mini driver completed the 375 kilometer loop stage in just shy of three hours to defeat Carlos Sainz Sr. by 52 seconds to take the sage victory. The victory, combined with Peterhansel finishing more than three minutes behind him in third, allowed Al-Attiyah to close the overall gap to the leader to less than five minutes.
In the motorcycle class, Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo was able to add to his lead in the division with a stage victory on Tuesday. He bested Toby Price by just more than a minute to take the stage victory, allowing him to grow his lead in the class standings to one minute and six seconds.
Florimo entered the stage with a slim one second advantage over Price.
Alexandre Giroud was able to pick up a stage victory in the quad class on Tuesday, but he still trails class leader Manuel Andujar by nearly 20 minutes. Anton Shibalov was a winner in the truck stage by more than two minutes over class leader Dmitry Sotnikov, who maintains a 43 minute lead in the class.
Francisco Lopez Contardo topped the lightweight division on Tuesday, but American Austin Jones holds a nearly 10 minute advantage over fellow American in the class standings with less than a week remaining in the rally.