Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah secured his sixth title in the car category at the Dakar Rally this Saturday. For several weeks, he has shown an unstoppable level of performance behind the wheel of his Dacia Sandrider.
Al-Attiyah, who finished 31st in a stage won by Swedish driver Mattias Ekstrom (Ford), completed the race with a total time of 48 hours, 56 minutes, and 53 seconds. This allowed him to beat his runner-up, Spaniard Nani Roma (Ford), by 9 minutes and 42 seconds.
Ekstrom completed the podium, while in fourth and fifth place were the multiple World Rally Champions, Frenchman Sebastien Loeb (Dacia Sandrider) and Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ford).
The Qatari driver took the lead in stage 10 to surpass Roma and from then on dominated with increasing comfort to secure his sixth title in the category after his wins in 2011, 2015, 2019, 2022, and 2023.
Thanks to this new title, Al-Attiyah joins the podium of all-time Dakar champions (including all categories), sharing third place with Czech driver Karel Loprais (winner in trucks in 1988, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, and 2001).
According to the Argentine News Agency, this statistic is led by Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel with 14 wins (1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1998 on motorcycles, and 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2021 in cars).
Champion in trucks
In the truck category, the champion of the 2024 Dakar Rally was Lithuanian driver Vaidotas Zala, a member of the Nordis Team Rooy FPT. Zala completed the course in a total time of 48 hours, 33 minutes, and 11 seconds.
The podium was completed by Czech driver Ales Loprais (Instatrade Loprais Team) and Dutchman Mitchel Van den Brink, who finished 18 and 35 minutes behind the winner, respectively.
Regarding stage 13, the winner was Loprais, who could only cut one minute and 37 seconds from his runner-up, who was Zala.
