Dakar: Toyota pushes on with another win for Al-Attiyah in stage 4

By: CAR magazine

Continuing his momentum from the last two stages, Nasser Al-Attiyah has claimed yet another stage win at Dakar 2021 in his SA-built Toyota Hilux. Stretching from Wadi Ad-Dawasir to Riyadh, the 377 km stage four featured predominately high-speed tracks.

Al-Attiyah now sits second in the general standings behind Mini X-Raid’s Stephane Peterhansel, who put up quite a fight on stage four after clinching second spot with just an 11-second variance. Following not too far behind in third place after a solid performance from the previous stage was Dakar rookie Henk Lategan, who like Al-Attiyah drives for Toyota’s Gazoo Racing team.

Carlos Sainz of Mini X-Raid managed to iron out the creases of the previous days with a fourth-place finish, some two minutes and 56 seconds off the pace. Thanks to this, he maintains third position in the general rankings with a variance of 35 minutes and 19 seconds. Promising performances were delivered by Jakub Przygonski, who held the fifth spot in the general rankings, along with Abu Dhabi Racing’s Khalid Al Qassimi and Sebastien Loeb of Bahrain Raid Xtreme.

And South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers? Well, while faring better than his stage three placing of 27th, De Villiers had to settle for 15th on the day, a variance of 14 minutes and 57 seconds. This improvement leaves him 22nd in the general rankings.

Toyota says De Villiers and navigator Alex Haro “initially looked on course for a solid result”, but lost time thanks to a “navigational error near the end of the stage”. In addition, the SA-born driver “suffered from a pain in his neck throughout the stage, and had to reduce speed in the rough sections as a result”.

For stage 5, drivers will be travelling from Riyadh to Al Qaisumah over a 205 km liaison with a 456 km special.

Stage ranking

1. Al-Attiyah (Toyota)
2. Peterhansel (Mini): +00:11
3. Lategan (Toyota): +01:30
4. Sainz (Mini): +02:56
5. Przygonski (Toyota): +05:05
6. Al Qassimi (Peugeot): +07:22
7. Loeb (BRX): +07:36
8. Vasilyev (Mini): +10:45
9. Baragawanath (Century): +11:31
10. Terranova (Mini): +11:54

General ranking

1. Peterhansel (Mini)
2. Al-Attiyah (Toyota): +03:58
3. Sainz (Mini): +35:19
4. Lategan (Toyota): +47:44
5. Przygonski (Toyota): +48:16
6. Serradori (SRT): +51:58
7. Loeb (BRX): +52:14
8. Al Qassimi (Peugeot): +01:03:19
9. Prokop (Ford): +01:07:51
10. Roma (BRX): +01:16:50

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