Ekstrom takes stage, Al-Attiyah keeps lead

Nasser Al-Attiyah remained on course for a sixth career Dakar Rally win in the top car category after last year's runner-up Henk Lategan hit more trouble in the Saudi Arabian desert on Thursday.

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The Qatari, driving for the Dacia Sandriders, finished the stage with an eight minute and 40 second lead over closest rival Nani Roma in a factory Ford.

“Tomorrow, we just need to do the same as today. If we lose two, three or four minutes it's no problem. We just need to finish this Dakar in first place,’ said Al-Attiyah.

Ford’s Mattias Ekstrom won Thursday's 346km stage from Bisha to Al-Henakiyah, the Swede’s third stage win of this year’s event.

Al-Attiyah had started the day 12 minutes clear of Lategan, who had slipped back after two nightmare days of mechanical misfortune and navigational errors.