Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah on Sunday won his fifth Dakar Rally driver’s title and second in a row, with Argentina’s Kevin Benavides securing his second motorbike crown.

The 52-year-old Al-Attiyah won three stages and had more than an hour’s advantage in the overall standings over Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, who also finished runner-up last year.

Al-Attiyah’s Toyota team-mate Lucas Moraes of Brazil finished third on his debut in the iconic test of endurance which reached its climax in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Al-Attiyah took the overall lead after the third stage, having built up a commanding advantage in the first week and deployed a safety-first strategy in the second half of the race.

“We just finished and I’m so happy. It was a difficult Dakar for everyone,” said Al-Attiyah.

Read the full story on sportsdesk.com.mt...

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.