Al-Attiyah, narrow winner of the 2nd stage: “We were very careful”

Une très belle journée pour Nasser Al-Attiyah. Loin des problèmes rencontrés par ses principaux concurrents, le pilote Toyota a parfaitement géré sa journée pour aller s’imposer sur la 2e étape du Dakar. Le Qatarien a réalisé une remontée spectaculaire dans les derniers kilomètres pour chiper la victoire d’étape à Erik van Loon, qui échoue à 14 secondes du vainqueur du jour. 

A first success on this Dakar 2023 for the title holder, who nevertheless favored safety over speed. " It was good ! It's a good start on this 2nd day, declared Nasser Al-Attiyah upon arrival in Alula. We were very careful because there were a lot of stones and rocks. The navigation was not easy but we did well. We tried to attack in certain places, but we also wanted to preserve the tires to avoid punctures. Unfortunately, we had one, but it's ok. I'm happy to have arrived and we'll see what happens tomorrow. It's going to be a great battle. »

Al-Attiyah takes advantage of his opponents' setbacks

A puncture which did not prevent him from being the fastest on this 430 kilometer long special between Sea Camp and Alula, while two of his main rivals – Loeb and Peterhansel – suffered several costly punctures. At the end of this 2nd stage, the three-time winner of the Dakar returns to the general standings. Nasser Al-Attiyah moved up to 2nd place, 2'14 behind Carlos Sainz, who gave up 5 minutes to the winner of the day. With Sébastien Loeb already delayed by more than an hour and Stéphane Peterhansel behind in the general standings, the Qatari is already in an ideal position to retain his title.

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