Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah wins prestigious Dakar Rally title for the third time

Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah is easily the Middle East’s most recognisable and successful rally drivers of all time.

The athlete, who has also competed in multiple Olympic Games as a skeet shooter, is widely respected as a multi-talented personality. His legend grew, even more, yesterday when he won the prestigious Dakar Rally title for the third time in his career.

Al Attiyah finished the gruelling race with a 46-minute advantage after taking no risks on the final stage to Lima, while Australian Toby Price took the motorcycle crown, reported Gulf Times.

The triumph, in a punishing endurance event now run entirely in Peru and featuring cars, bikes and trucks, was a first for Japanese constructor Toyota.

Spaniard Carlos Sainz, last year’s car champion, won the closing 10th stage from Pisco with Al Attiyah 12th and some nine minutes slower.

Sainz’s compatriot Nani Roma, in an X-Raid Mini, finished second overall with nine times rally world champion Sebastien Loeb, runner-up in the stage, completing the podium with a privately entered Peugeot in the absence of a works entry, reported Reuters news agency.

Al Attiyah’s previous Dakar Rally wins were with Volkswagen in 2011 and Mini in ’15. Overall runner-up in ’18, the 48-year-old led after every stage except the second day in this year’s event when South African team-mate Giniel de Villiers was ahead.

“It’s fantastic. No mistakes during the entire rally. It was a very, very difficult rally for everybody,” said Al Attiyah.

“The good thing was that from day three, we were leading and we built on our time every day until we came to the last day with a big, big lead. We felt when we came that in Peru...with no other country, there would be a lot of dunes so we could do what we know we’re good at,” he said.

“I’m happy for Toyota because it’s the first time in history that they won the Dakar. This is fantastic,” Al Attiyah was quoted as saying by Overdrive Racing.

Overdrive Racing and Toyota have come close to winning the event on several occasions, but this year’s Peruvian success was topped off by a top-10 finish for the French duo of Ronan Chabot and Gilles Pillot in their Overdrive Racing-run Toyota Hilux.