Al-Attiyah beats Sainz in the fifth stage and opens the gap on the Dakar

A fall prevents Barreda from fighting for the motorcycle stage but he still has options in the general

BARCELONA, 5 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) won the fifth stage of the 2023 Dakar Rally on Thursday, held in Ha'Il over 373 kilometers of special, with Carlos Sainz (Audi) second and setting time for all his rivals, while in motos A crash deprived Joan Barreda (JB Team) of being able to fight for the stage, although he is still in the general standings.

Al-Attiyah, who started fourth, took control of the special and took his second stage with a 1:57 minute margin over Carlos Sainz, second, and 3:44 over the Madrid teammate in Audi Stéphane Peterhansel, third.

The Qatari, as soon as he found himself in the lead, pushed hard and left all his rivals out of the fight for the stage, including a Sébastien Loeb who was fighting for partial victory when, a problem with just over 100 kilometers to go , made him lose almost 20 minutes at the finish line.

On the other hand, the Spanish Laia Sanz suffered a serious accident at kilometer 28 and her Astara was left in very poor condition after rolling over several times. Fortunately, both Corbera's and his co-driver Maurizio Gerini were unharmed and they are confident that assistance can fix the car to reach the finish line.

Now, the car general continues to be led by Al-Attiyah, with an even greater margin over the Frenchman Peterhansel, now at 22:36 minutes, while the Saudi Yazedd Al Rajhi (Overdrive) drops to third place, at 27:01. Carlos Sainz follows fourth, 34:52 minutes behind the leader.

Meanwhile, in motorcycles, there was a change of leader, who is now the American Skyler Howes (Husqvarna), with a 44-second margin over the Argentine Kevin Benavides (KTM) and 1:40 over his compatriot Mason Klein (KTM). The previous leader, the Australian Daniel Sanders, is now eighth at 13:18 after losing a lot of time in this fifth stage.

The special was won by the Frenchman Adrien van Beveren (Honda) with a 13-second margin over his teammate, the Chilean Nacho Cornejo (Honda). Third was Klein, 5:13 behind the winner. For his part, the Spanish Joan Barreda (JB Team) suffered a fall with his Honda, with just 20 kilometers to go.

He was helped by up to four pilots, and signed the 14th fastest time, at 14 minutes. A day totally saved, in which he was going with a very good rhythm. Of course, in the general he is sixth (he lost two places) but he is still 4:52 behind the new leader, a distance that allows him to continue fighting (despite the broken foot he is dragging) for this Dakar.