The pace of the sustainably-fuelled Dacia Sandrider was demonstrated once again on Stage 5 of the Dakar Rally today (Thursday), which Nasser Al-Attiyah and Édouard Boulanger completed with the provisional fastest time and one second shy of the stage win.
Al-Attiyah and Boulanger sped through the 428-kilometre Stage 5 from AlUla to Ha’il in 4h22m54s. While it was the quickest time of the day, because the #200 Dacia Sandrider completed the stage with a spare wheel missing after the supporting frame suffered a failure, a 10-minute penalty was applied.
This relegated Al-Attiyah and Boulanger to second place in the stage classification by a mere one second, such was their level of dominance across the challenging terrain. But having started the day in seventh place in the overall ranking, Al-Attiyah and Boulanger have climbed up to fourth place ahead of Friday’s Rest Day in Ha’il.
Had the original time stood, it would have been a maiden Dakar Rally stage win for The Dacia Sandriders, which is contesting Saudi Arabia’s hugely demanding round of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship for the first time following its competition debut on Rallye du Maroc last October.
Today’s performance from The Dacia Sandriders follows a challenging fourth stage on Wednesday, the first run to marathon stage rules, when Al-Attiyah and Boulanger slipped from second to seventh in the overall ranking while their team-mates Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno helped to replace a damaged suspension component.
With their own chances of Dakar Rally success dashed after they were unable to complete Stage 2 due to a powersteering failure, Gutiérrez and Moreno have been performing the ultimate supporting role to their team-mates, which continued on Stage 5 today.
The Spaniards, who began the day six positions ahead of Al-Attiyah and Boulanger according to the starting order, completed Stage 5 in 4h53m27s after they waited for their team-mates to close up in order to run in close proximity, another example of their excellent teamwork.
Al-Attiyah and Boulanger were the 19th crew to tackle Stage 5, leaving the overnight halt at 10h20m local time. They took the stage lead after 173 kilometres and were more than five minutes ahead following 226 kilometres of competitive action. That lead increased further to 6m16s after 260 kilometres and 7m43s after 359 kilometres.
It’s unclear when the spare wheel support frame failed or why, but a full investigation will be carried out by The Dacia Sandriders ahead of Stage 6 on Saturday.
KEY QUOTES
Nasser A-Attiyah (Qatar), driver, the Dacia Sandriders : « Today there was only one way and that was to push and win the stage. We are at the Rest Day now and we wanted to close the gap. I’m really quite happy. We will see for next week because today was very important for our speed and for our car. »
Cristina Gutierrez (Spain), driver, the Dacia Sandriders : « The stage was nice, for me yesterday it was tougher. Today we take it easy because we know that if we arrive to Nasser without tyres or spare parts it’s going to a problem. So we take it easy and go through the stage with no problems. We wait for them in the beginning and then we were just going, going and going. I’m disappointed for Nasser’s tyre situation but he showed he can win when he wants and this is the most important. »
DAKAR RALLY PROVISIONAL STAGE 5 RESULTS – AlUla-Ha’il
Stage distance: 428km Liaison distance: 63km Total distance: 491km
2nd: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), +0.1s
14th: Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), +20m34s
AKAR RALLY PROVISIONAL OVERALL RESULTS AFTER STAGE 5
4th: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), +35m53s
45th: Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), +37h34m39s
DAKAR RALLY: THE BIG NUMBER
4h22m54s: Nasser Al-Attiyah and Édouard Boulanger completed Stage 5 of the Dakar Rally in a table-topping time of 4h22m54s. However, they lost what would have been the first Dakar Rally stage win for The Dacia Sandriders by one second after a time penalty was applied.
THE DAY AHEAD: REST DAY, HA’IL
Friday January 10 is a day of rest for the crews before the second week of the 2025 Dakar Rally begins on Saturday. There’s still another 4245 kilometres, including 2464 against the clock, before the finish in Shubaytah on Friday January 17.