Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin have reclaimed the lead of the Dakar Rally for The Dacia Sandriders, which celebrated its first 1-2 stage finish on the event after Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger completed a memorable day for the team.
The 15th crew to leave the overnight bivouac in Ha’il this morning, Al-Attiyah/Lurquin produced a desert-driving masterclass to record the 17th stage win for The Dacia Sandriders in the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) since its debut on Rallye du Maroc in October 2024. The one-two result was the third for The Dacia Sandriders in the W2RC, its previous coming on Rally-Raid Portugal last September.
Al-Attiyah is now one stage away from equalling the record of 50 Dakar Rally stage wins jointly held by Stéphane Peterhansel and Ari Vatanen. And by winning today’s stage from Ha’il to Riyadh, Qatari driver Al-Attiyah has registered a stage win on 19 consecutive editions of the Dakar Rally, a feat that extends his existing record and underlines his stunning consistency at the age of 55.
In the overall ranking, Al-Attiyah/Lurquin head to the Rest Day in Riyadh tomorrow leading the 48th Dakar Rally by 6m10s. They had been 3m17s behind following Stage 5 after a two-minute penalty was applied having also led after Stage 2 on Monday.
Loeb’s performance from 11th on the road, meanwhile, was similarly impressive and came despite an enforced tyre change. In eighth position after 162 kilometres, Loeb/Lurquin shot up to second at the 287-kilometre mark following an outstanding charge in the desert to climb from eighth to sixth overall. The result marks Loeb’s first Dakar Rally day podium appearance since Stage 12 in 2024 and his first in the W2RC since he set the pace on Rallye du Maroc’s fifth and final stage last October.
The first Friday of the Dakar Rally was spent negotiating dunes and sandy tracks in eastern Saudi Arabia. It was also the longest of the event with a total distance of 915 kilometres, including 326 kilometres against the clock.
Quickest by nine seconds after 162 kilometres, Al-Attiyah/Lurquin grew their advantage to 47s at the 186-kilometre time check, a performance that elevated them from second to first in the overall ranking. And there was no slowing down thereafter with the pair reaching 248 kilometres leading the stage by 1m50s. They eventually took the stage win by 2m58s.
Boosted by his second top-four stage time in the colours of The Dacia Sandriders on Thursday, world champion Lucas Moraes, together with new-for-2026 navigator Dennis Zenz, battled against their high starting order of fourth to finish the stage in 16th place and maintain their grip on a top 10 overall position.
Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno switched to providing a supporting role to Al-Attyiyah/Lurquin and completed Stage 6 with the 15th quickest time. They move up from 14th to 13th in the current ranking.
KEY QUOTES
NASSER AL-ATTIYAH (QATAR), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « The first week was not an easy week, it was a lot of changing but today the stage was completely different, maybe what I like with sand and more navigation. We try to have a good time, but it was nice to have the lead of Dakar and to win the stage. It was a good week, and we try to work very hard now for the second week of Dakar. »
CRISTINA GUTIÉRREZ (SPAIN), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was a tough one. At the beginning I take it easy because the team tell me it’s better for Nasser to overtake me and go in the back just in case something happens. Then I tried to manage to follow Nasser, and I could for 20 kilometres, but he was flying. After that I took my rhythm and continued with no issues and no problems and we are happy to finish like this in the first week. »
SÉBASTIEN LOEB (FRANCE), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was a good stage, we pushed really hard in this one. Maybe one time a little too hard, we de-bead the tyre and had to change the wheel. Except for this it was really fun. In the dunes you can push 110 per cent so it’s very different from the previous days. With this kind of car in this terrain is just amazing. We had a lot of fun and a lot of impacts also – I was not very tall before and I’m even shorter now! – but it’s okay, it was a good day. »
LUCAS MORAES (BRAZIL), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « Of course it was not the stage I really wanted, again we lost a bit of time. But, to be honest, I’m happy to finish the first week with The Dacia Sandriders. We are top 10, still a little wide open to the lead but still believing. I need to improve some stuff for next week. We go to rest a little bit, go back to the drawing board and come back stronger next week. »
FABIAN LURQUIN (FRANCE), NAVIGATOR, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS : « It was good, fast and a bit shaky, but we had a good day, a clean day. I’m super-happy, the Dacia Sandrider was perfect with no issues. Nasser was very good to drive with and it’s going according to plan at the moment, let’s keep it like that for one more week. »
DAKAR RALLY STAGE 6 RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL) Ha’il-Riyadh
Stage distance: 326km Liaison distance: 589km Total distance: 915km
1st Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 3h38m28s
2nd Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), 3h41m26s
15th Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), 3h51m01s
16th Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), 3h51m20s
DAKAR RALLY PROVISIONAL ULTIMATE CATEGORY OVERALL RESULTS AFTER STAGE 6 (UNOFFICIAL)
1st Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 24h18m29s
6th Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), +17m36s
10th Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), +26m46s
13th Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), +33m45s
DAKAR RALLY: THE BIG NUMBER
6m10s: Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin are back in the lead of the Dakar Rally and had the overall ranking by 6m10s at the completion of week one.
THE DAY AHEAD: REST DAY, JANUARY 10
After six days of ultra-demanding Dakar Rally action, a rest day awaits in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh tomorrow (Saturday). The competition resumes on Sunday (January 11), when the event heads south to Wadi ad-Dawasir via a 462-kilometre timed stage.