Dakar 2022 review: Nasser Al Attiyah dominates first week

The
Toyota
Gazoo
Racing
driver
had
deservedly
built
up
a
lead
of
48min
54sec
at
the
event’s
traditional
rest
day
in
Riyadh
on
Saturday
(January
8).

Partnered
by
French
co-driver
Mathieu
Baumel,
who
made
several
critical
navigational
decisions
during
a
tricky
week
and
six
stages
through
the
demanding
deserts
of
Saudi
Arabia,
Al
Attiyah
was
able
to
win
both
parts
of
the
opening
stage
and
a
further
special
on
his
way
to
a
comfortable
cushion
over
Overdrive
Racing
team-mate
Yazeed
Al-Rajhi
and
his
co-driver
Michael
Orr.

Dakar
2022:
Orlando
Terranova
wins
Stage
6,
Nasser
Al
Attiyah
in
the
driver’s
seat
at
half-way
mark

“Absolutely,
we
are
quite
happy.
We
tried
to
push
from
the
beginning
but
some
drivers
made
some
mistakes.
Mathieu
navigated
well.
We
are
quite
happy
to
have
finished
the
first
week
of
the
Dakar
with
a
good
lead.
Mathieu
did
a
good
job.
He
was
very
careful
to
avoid
making
mistakes,”
said
Al
Attiyah.

“I
think
we
are
in
a
good
way.
We’ve
worked
a
lot
this
week
without
any
risks.
This
is
the
Dakar
and
we
will
try
to
manage
next
week
without
any
risks.
We
need
to
be
strong
all
the
way.
We
need
to
have
a
good
pace
without
any
relaxing
because,
when
you
relax,
you
make
a
mistake.
We
also
need
to
navigate
well,”
the
three-time
Dakar
winner
added.

Al
Rajhi
was
deprived
of
one
near
certain
stage
win
by
a
minor
speeding
penalty,
but
the
Saudi
was
able
to
steer
his
Toyota
Hilux
into
second
at
the
expense
of
nine-time
World
Rally
Championship
(WRC)
legend
Sebastien
Loeb
on
the
stage
before
the
rest
day.

Al
Attiyah’s
Toyota
Gazoo
Racing
team-mate
Giniel
de
Villiers
endured
fraught
preparations
to
his
Dakar
challenge
and
only
arrived
in
the
Kingdom
at
the
11th
hour.

When
a
five-hour
time
penalty
was
rescinded
by
the
event
stewards
on
Friday
afternoon,
the
South
African
regained
his
place
inside
the
top
five
and
held
fourth
place
in
Riyadh,
a
mere
1min
31sec
behind
Loeb.

Argentina’s
Lucio
Alvarez
and
his
Spanish
navigator
Armand
Monleón
had
been
running
as
high
as
third
overall
during
the
opening
week
in
their
Overdrive
Racing
Toyota
Hilux
but
lost
20
minutes
to
their
rivals
on
the
sixth
stage
and
slipped
down
to
fifth
place.

Action
got
underway
on
New
Year’s
Day
with
a
19.51km
Qualifying
Stage
held
over
challenging
desert
terrain
between
the
official
start
in
Jeddah
and
Hail.
Al
Attiyah
claimed
the
stage
win
from
Sainz
by
12
seconds.
Overdrive’s
Al
Rajhi,
Ten
Brinke,
Alvarez,
Chabot
and
Yacopini
were
classified
in
sixth,
12th,
13th,
20th
and
25th.

Navigational
woes
blighted
several
leading
teams
on
the
first
of
the
specials
through
the
An
Nafud
desert,
near
Hail,
and
Baumel’s
road
book
prowess
enabled
Al-Attiyah
to
extend
his
lead
over
Loeb
to
12min
44sec.
Alvarez
held
fourth
and
Al
Rajhi
slipped
to
ninth,
as
Ten
Brinke
lost
two
hours
and
plummeted
to
46th
and
Barbosa
slipped
to
48th.

Flooding
and
heavy
rain
forced
rally
officials
to
move
the
location
of
the
bivouac
for
the
next
stage
and
abandon
plans
to
run
a
Marathon
special.

Al
Attiyah
ceded
the
stage
win
to
Loeb
but
maintained
a
lead
of
9min
16sec
with
Alvarez
moving
up
to
third
place
and
Al-Rajhi
setting
the
sixth
quickest
time
to
hold
eighth.
Yacopini
was
24th
and
Ten
Brinke
held
30th.

Al
Attiyah
dropped
5min
10sec
to
Carlos
Sainz
through
the
third
stage
but
was
able
to
increase
his
overall
lead
to
37min
40sec
after
Loeb
suffered
mechanical
issues.
Al
Rajhi
and
Alvarez
were
sixth
and
ninth
on
the
stage
and
a
strong
third
and
fifth
overall.

Stage
four
was
the
longest
of
the
entire
rally
at
464.76km
and
ran
between
Al
Qaisumah
and
Riyadh.
Al
Attiyah
was
fastest
for
the
third
time,
the
Qatari
beating
Loeb
by
25
seconds,
to
extend
his
advantage
to
38min
05sec.
Al-Rajhi,
De
Villiers
and
Ten
Brinke
finished
fifth,
sixth
and
seventh
and
Al-Rajhi
climbed
to
third
overall
with
Alvarez
slipping
behind
De
Villiers
into
fifth.
A
speeding
penalty
deprived
Al-Rajhi
of
a
potential
stage
win.

Stage
five
was
a
loop
through
the
deserts
around
Riyadh
that
had
been
affected
by
recent
heavy
rain.
Toyota
Gazoo
Racing’s
Henk
Lategan
won
the
stage,
as
Al-Attiyah
erred
on
the
side
of
caution,
came
home
in
eighth
place
and
saw
his
lead
trimmed
to
35min
10sec.
Alvarez
fought
his
way
back
into
third
with
Al-Rajhi
in
fourth
overall.

Rally
officials
arranged
a
second
Riyadh
loop
stage
before
the
rest
day
and
a
cautious
Al
Attiyah
cruised
to
the
finish
with
the
10th
quickest
time
to
take
a
lead
of
48min
54sec
into
the
second
week.

Al-Rajhi
took
full
advantage
of
time
delays
for
Loeb
to
snatch
second
overall
and
De
Villiers
was
reinstated
in
fourth
after
a
time
penalty
was
dropped.
Alvarez
held
fifth
overall
to
give
Toyota
four
cars
in
the
top
five
after
a
successful
opening
week
of
the
44th
Dakar.

The
second
half
will
feature
six
further
desert
special
stages
through
the
south
and
western
regions
of
the
Kingdom
of
Saudi
Arabia,
featuring
bivouacs
in
Wadi
Ad
Dawasir
and
Bisha,
before
the
route
heads
west
for
the
final
stage
and
ceremonial
finish
in
the
Red
Sea
city
of
Jeddah
on
January
14.

2022
Dakar
Rally
–
rest
day
positions:

1.
Nasser
Saleh
Al-Attiyah
(QAT)/Mathieu
Baumel
(FRA)
Toyota
Gazoo
Racing
GR
DKR
Hilux
20hr
37min
24sec

2.
Yazeed
Al
Rajhi
(SAU)/Michael
Orr
(GBR)
Toyota
Hilux
Overdrive
21hr
27min
43sec

3.
Sébastien
Loeb
(FRA)/Fabian
Lurquin
(BEL)
Prodrive
Hunter
BRX
21hr
27min
49sec