Photo Sourced From: Dakar

The time has come, Team Peugeot was knocked off the top spot of the podium during today’s stage at the Dakar Rally. Team Mini driver Nasser Al-Attyah may have only won the stage by 12 seconds, but it is enough to win the stage.

“This was a very difficult stage, it was not easy. We had a good time at the beginning, but when we came we came onto the off-road it was impossible to follow the buggy. We’ve won the stage by about 12 seconds, maybe, but we’ll see now how the other guys do. Of course, tomorrow will really not be an easy stage. Maybe we’ll be opening the road, but Matthieu did a really good job today and I am sure that tomorrow he will do a really good job.”

Photo Sourced From: Dakar

“It’s not a time for mistakes. It’s nice to win the stage again after the rest day on off-road terrain and dunes, but the buggy is still really fast in camel grass. I think we improved today with our time and we’ll see for tomorrow. I am here to fight, you know, I don’t care. I will do my best to win the Dakar. Tomorrow and after tomorrow we really need to put in a maximum performance without any mistakes and we’ll see. The Dakar won’t be decided on the marathon stages, but you need to have a good time over the next two stages,” an excited Al-Attyah explained after winning the stage.

Sébastien Loeb also had a rough day saying, ““What happened was that in a rio there was a dip and I didn’t see it, so we arrived on it, fell in and it threw the car off balance and we rolled. We broke a lot of things on the car. We had to change two wheels and change the transmission so, for sure, we lost a lot of time.”

After winning the last stage Carlos Sainz came in second place saying, “We tried to drive at a good speed, but it was not easy to open the road. We had a small problem with the temperature, but for the rest everything is fine. I’m sure it’s going to be tough, especially the next couple of days. It’s going to be difficult.”

Sheldon Creed having troubles of his own in this very difficult Dakar stage.

Robby Gordon continues to have a rough Dakar. He was halted due to a technical problem, and struggled to get to the finish line ending his day well behind all the other drivers. Finishing four hours and ten minutes behind leaves him with lots of work in the remaining stages.

This stage proved why the Dakar rally is no joke. It is something that test man and machine, and the tough part of the rally has just begun. Each of the last stages will continue to push the vehicles to the limit.