WADI AL DAWASIR — Nasser Al-Attiyah came on top in the second stage of the 2021 Dakar Rally on Monday, as Stephane Peterhansel eclipsed X-raid Mini teammate Carlos Sainz to take the overall lead.

The Qatari driver Al-Attiyah was able to achieve the first place in the stage, with a time of 04:03:14, ahead of French driver Stephane Peterhansel, who came in second place by 02: 35+, while the first stage leader, Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, took third with a difference of 09: 17+.

Saudi driver Yazid Al-Rajhi rose to fourth place in the overall standings, after displaying a distinguished performance in Monday's stage, with a time of 04:13:38.

Spain's Joan Barreda took the second stage in the motorbike category, finishing ahead of American rider and title-holder Ricky Brabec, who is also riding a Honda.

The Russian driver Dmitry Sotnikov continued to present strong results by leading for the second day in a row in the truck category, achieving a time of 04:37:44 that gave him the lead in Wadi Al-Dawasir.

He finished ahead of his compatriot Irat Mardev, who finished second with a difference of 03: 17+ and the Belarusian Syari Vyazovich who came in third place with a difference of 06: 30+.

Dimitri Sotnikov led a Russian Kamaz 1-2 in the trucks over Airat Mardeev with Belarusian Siharei Viazovich third in a MAZ.

Also at the time of writing, local Saudi hero Salih Al-Saif led Reinaldo Varela and Gerard Farres-Guell in the Light Vehicles and US rider Pablo Copetti led Giovanni Enrico and Day 1 winner Alexandre Giroud in the Quads.

Al-Saif said: “Today’s stage was enjoyable on the land that I love, and the sandy areas that I prefer, and despite the distinguished result, we faced some difficulties and problems, as we wasted about a quarter of an hour looking for one of the points, as well as one of the vehicle's tires punctured, which forced us to finish the last 15 rounds of the race in that manner.

“It was possible to finish the race a quarter of an hour ahead of the closest competitors had it not been for this, but it is a good sign, praise be to God, and we will work very hard to continue progress and steadfastly in the lead.”

Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX) took on the Saudi Arabian desert in stage two with Nani Roma and Sebastien Loeb putting the BRX Hunter to the test across vast stretches of open desert and rolling sand dunes for large portions of the stage.

After a strong showing on stage one, to climb up the rankings, Roma started stage two in 6th position in the No. 311 Hunter. A fan of the expansive sandy conditions, Roma picked up where he left off and was chasing a spot in the top ten for the day’s stage.

However, after some navigational challenges, Roma finished stage two in 04:38:32 that placed him 16th for the day, putting him 10th overall and with a +41:55 gap from the rally leader after two stages.

Loeb, who had redemption on his mind after a difficult first stage of the rally, used his experience in the No. 305 Hunter, and gave a snapshot of why he is a nine-time World Rally Champion.

He pushed through the pack, showing the Hunter’s underlying pace to finish in 6th position and complete the day’s driving in 04:20:07, +16:53 off the leader. Loeb’s performance puts him in 7th overall 36:40 behind the leader.

Roma commented: “It was a good but challenging stage. Some tricky conditions and terrain, but it was good to test the Hunter and we are happy with how the car performed.

“We lost some time because of navigation issues, but that is part of cross country driving like this. It’s not all about speed, navigation is key. Overall, it is a positive day though, the time may not show that, but I feel positive with what we have learnt today.”

Loeb added: “It was a much better day today. On the driving side, I did a good stage; I was pushing from the start to the end with no punctures or time stuck in the dunes.

“On the navigation side, we made a few mistakes, but it was incredibly tricky towards the end to see the tracks and find the way. We may have lost a little bit of time, but otherwise we did well, and we are where we need to be.”

The Saudi Dakar Rally 2021 continues Tuesday in its third stage, which will be in Wadi Al-Dawasir, with a total distance of 629 km, interspersed with a special stage of 403 km, in which the contestants set out to try to overcome the difficulties of this stage, which includes a lot of rough roads, before the rally gets back on the sandy paths. — SG