Dakar 2022 review: Nasser Al Attiyah dominates first week

Bengaluru, January 8: As the Dakar 2022 convoy takes a well-deserved rest in Saudi Arabia, it is time to look back at the first week action of the most demanding off-road rally, which has been dominated right from the start by Qatari ace Nasser Al Attiyah.

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.

2022 FIA DAKAR RALLY (Rest day positions)

1. Nasser 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

Good way

"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'll 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 champion added.

How the drama unfolded

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 Carlos Sainz by 12sec.

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.

Cautious approach

Al Attiyah ceded the stage win to Sebastien Loeb but maintained a lead of 9min 16sec. Though the Qatari dropped 5min 10sec to Sainz through the third stage, he was able to increase his overall lead to 37min 40sec after Loeb suffered mechanical issues. 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. 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.

Second half

Al Rajhi took full advantage of time delays for Loeb to snatch second overall and Giniel De Villiers was reinstated in fourth after a time penalty was dropped.

The second half of the 44th edition of the event 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.