Al-Rajhi claims stage win, Al-Attiyah goes for oxygen

IQUIQUE, Chile: Saudi Arabia’s Dakar Rally rookie Yazeed Al-Rajhi claimed a maiden stage win in the spectacular sand dune finish in Iquique on Sunday to break Mini’s stranglehold on this year’s race
As the Toyota driver celebrated his landmark day on the world’s toughest rally, his Qatari rival Nasser Al-Attiyah did enough in his Mini in third to consolidate his position at the top of the driver standings.
The 2011 Dakar winner even gained a few seconds on his closest pursuer, South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers (Toyota), who finished fourth.
Up to this win for Toyota, each stage had ended up being claimed by one of the Minis.
Sunday’s 808 kilometre run, with 784km timed, took Al-Rajhi and the rest of the car competitors from Bolivia’s salt flats in Uyuni to the vertiginous dunes of the Chilean Pacific coastal city of Iquique.
He covered the route in three hours, 26 minutes and 49 seconds, with Saturday’s stage winner Orlando Terranova in second in his Mini, over one minute behind.
Al-Attiyah, a further two-and-a-half minutes back in third, has an almost eight-and-a-half minute lead over de Villiers, who lost precious time in the final dunes in the approach to Iquique, in the race for the drivers crown.