SAKAKI, Saudi Arabia – Yazeed Al-Rajhi outran overall Dakar Rally leader Stephane Peterhansel to earn his first Dakar stage victory on Sunday.
Peterhansel led much of the 453 kilometer stage, however a broken wishbone on his Mini X-Raid allowed Al-Rajhi to catch and pass him. Al-Rajhi ended up earning a narrow 48-second victory in the stage aboard his Toyota.
Despite the late issue, Peterhansel retained the overall lead in the Dakar Rally by nearly eight minutes over Nasser Al-Attiyah. Al-Attiyah finished fourth in Sunday’s seventh stage as he continued to chase Peterhansel.
In the motorcycle class, American Ricky Brabec earned his first stage victory this year by more than two minutes ahead of Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo. Florimo narrowly leads the motorcycle class by one second over Australia’s Toby Price.
Manuel Andujar padded his lead in the quad division with a stage victory on Sunday, allowing him to extend his class lead to nearly 21 minutes. The same was the case in the truck class, with class leader Dmitry Sotnikov picking up another stage win to extend his class lead to more than 45 minutes.
The lightweight stage was captured by Francisco Lopez Contardo, with Aron Domzala holding the class lead by more than eight minutes.