Al-Attiyah captures 6th Dakar car title

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia on Saturday with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the bike title.

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"We've worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win," said Al-Attiyah at the finish.

Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday.

The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the 2012 London Olympic Games, was adding to his previous Dakar wins in 2011, 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2023.

With Belgian co-driver Fabian Lurquin, Al-Attiyah took control of the overall standings early on in the motorsport marathon.

After placing ninth on the 13th and final stage in Yanbu on the Red Sea he had almost 10 minutes in hand over second-placed Nani Roma (Ford).

Roma's Swedish teammate Mattias Ekstrom won the final stage to complete the car podium in third overall.