Dakar – Stage 4: Al-Rajhi finally penalized, Al-Attiyah winner

It was expected and it did not disappoint in the end. The Al Qaisumah-Riyadh special kept all its promises this Wednesday. With 700 kilometers including 465 timed, the longest stage of this Dakar 2022 was the scene of a long battle between several drivers.

It all started with Henk Lategan's strong start. At the wheel of his Toyota Hilux, the South African was in the lead during the first 6 scores but lost all hope of victory between the 239th and 314th kilometers. At the wheel with more than 2 minutes ahead of his closest pursuer Nasser Al-Attiyah, the 26-year-old driver was forced to immobilize his car while suffering from mechanical problems.

Timing chosen by Carlos Sainz to pass the second. Ambushing in 3rd provisional position, the Matador then took advantage of the misfortunes of his South African counterpart to take the reins of the 4th stage of this Dakar. Building on his victory the day before, the Spaniard chained three checkpoints in the lead to relegate Yazeed Al-Rajhi, his closest pursuer, to 48 seconds less than 70 kilometers from the finish.

But now, the last section of the Al Qaisumah-Riyadh special finally worked in favor of the Saudi who knew how to do well in the fastest part of the day. New leader after WP417, Yazeed Al-Rajhi showed great mastery in escaping and no longer being caught. Although he was up to 2 minutes behind Carlos Sainz, the local finished this stage more than a minute ahead of the Matador.

A short-lived joy, however, since the race management came to calm the enthusiasm of Yazeed Al-Rajhi. The Saudi was in fact penalized 2 minutes after arrival for speeding in a double controlled zone. Winner by 14 seconds against Nasser Al-Attiyah, the local of the event finally fell back to 5th place thus offering victory to the Qatari, his 44th in the event, on a plateau allowing him to consolidate his lead at the top of the this 2022 edition.

🚨All results are provisional!

Yazeed Al-Rajhi receives a penalty and therefore Nasser Al-Attiyah is the winner of stage 4# Dakar2022 https://t.co/wBfSkUqIrv

- DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 5, 2022

Unhappy the day before due to a transmission problem and two punctures, Sébastien Loeb set the record straight this Wednesday. Confident with his Prodrive Hunter, the Alsatian showed a completely different side and finished on the 3rd step of the podium less than a minute from the winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi. A 3rd place which finally transformed into 2nd thanks to the penalty of the initial winner once the stage was over.