Dakar 2022: With so many twists on Stage 9, everything is still up for the grabs

Giniel de Villiers celebrated his 18th Dakar stage win. Image: Red Bull Content Pool

Bengaluru, January 12: A tricky 287kms loop stage around the Wadi Ad Dawasir bivouac in Saudia Arabia was the task for Stage 9 in FIA Dakar Rally 2022 with Giniel de Villiers leading a Toyota 1-2-3 as Nasser Al Attiyah continued his overall lead.

South African driver De Villiers, behind wheels of Toyota Hilux T1+, finished the stage 9sec ahead of Stage 5 winner and compatriot Henk Lategan with Al Attiyah a minute behind, rounding off the all-Toyota podium.

De Villiers celebrated his 18th Dakar stage win and the 2009 champion is now up to fifth overall in an effort to chase down a ninth podium finish of his distinguished Dakar career.

Dakar 2022: De Villiers wins Stage 9; Al Attiyah in control Dakar 2022: De Villiers wins Stage 9; Al Attiyah in control

Meanwhile, De Villiers's Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Al Attiyah continued to control the rally from first place overall with France's World Rally Championship (WRC) legend Sebastien Loeb still throwing everything he can at the ace Qatari as he averaged 158kph over the first 35kms of the timed special, only for a puncture to hamper him late on.

The lead of the bike race changed hands once again with 2018 Dakar winner Walkner taking top spot off 2017 Dakar winner Great Britain's Sam Sunderland in a fascinating tussle.

Walkner's Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team-mate Argetnina's Kevin Benavides is another biker moving up the rankings as the bike race's defending champion is just 10 minutes back with three stages left.

The Russian dominance continued in the truck category with Eduard Nikolaev of Team Kamaz Master completing the day with the best time and currently sits second in the overall classification 8min, behind last year's winner Dmitry Sotnikov.

Audi challenge

In the car's category, it was another solid stage from the trio of Audi Sport drivers with Spain's rally legend Carlos Sainz, France's 14-time winner and defending champion Stephane Peterhansel Sweden's and Mattias Ekstrom all in the top 10 in their Audi RS Q e-trons.

"It was the first time in my life that I had opened a Dakar stage. I didn't push too much, but I think we did a pretty good job. It was a great experience for us to open the road for all the other cars," said Ekstrom, the Stage 8 winner.

Loeb in the mix

Loeb and co-driver Fabian Lurquin in a Prodrive Hunter were fifth fastest on the day to consolidate their second place overall, 39minm 5sec behind Al Attiyah who clocked the third best time behind stage winner De Villiers.

While a considerable gap remains between the leader and his closest rival, the hazardous nature of the route ahead over the last three days means the battle for victory in the world's toughest rally is far from over.

Al Attiyah in control

Al Attiyah and his French navigator Matthieu Baumel , behind the wheels of their now-famous Toyota Hilux 1+, have not won a stage since Stage 4, but still have lead the general classification since Stage 1.

"We were third on this stage and we have a good lead overall so we're quite happy. It's great to give Toyota a 1-2-3 result today," said Al Attiyah, the FIA Dakar Rally champion in 2011, 2015 and 2019.

Challenging Stage 10

A rich tapestry of landscapes and colours will greet the Dakar convoy in Wednesday's (January 12) Stage 10 with 374kms of timed racing to be covered between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha.

With just three more stages to go, the Dakar 2022 has reached its business end with the ceremonial finish scheduled to be held in the Red Sea city of Jeddah on Friday (January 14). Bring it on!

(With Red Bull/Team BRX Media inputs)