Riyadh, January 10 (QNA) – The Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah, Toyota driver led the temporary general ranking of the car category in the competitions of the 45th edition of the Dakar Rally for 2023, hosted for the fourth time by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia until Jan. 15 with the participation of 820 drivers and co-drivers representing 68 different countries.
Title holder Al Attiyah accompanied by French co-driver Mathieu Baumel covered the distance of the stage nine between Riyadh and Haradh for 358km in 3 hours, 16 minutes, and 22 seconds with a difference of 8.85 minutes from the French Sebastien Loeb who was accompanied by Belgian co-driver Fabien Lorquin winner of stage nine with 3 hours, 7 minutes, and 24 seconds.
Loeb, who achieved his third victory in Dakar Rally this year, won stage nine with 57 seconds ahead of the Lithuanian Vaidotas Zala, who came second with 3 hours, 8 minutes, and 21 seconds. The French driver Guerlain Chicherit came third with 3 hours, 9 minutes, and 32 seconds, 2 minutes and 8 seconds behind the champion.
In a press statement after stage nine, Al Attiyah said: “Today we did a really good job without any mistakes, without any problems. We need to take it day by day like this without any problems. We have a big gap now and I hope to finish and to win this Dakar.” (QNA)