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Dakar 2024 Stage 5 Results: Quintanilla And Al-Attiyah Claim Victory
Stage 5 of Dakar 2024 saw Honda's Pablo Quintanilla take the stage win in the bikes category while two-time defending champion Nasser-Al-Attiyah claimed victory in the cars category.
The fifth stage saw competitors cover a total of 645 kilometres from Al Hofuf to Shubaytah, which included a small 118-kilometre-long timed special stage as the racers headed deeper into the sands of Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter.
Bikes
For the second day in a row at Dakar 2024, it was a Chilean Honda rider who won the stage with Pablo Quintanilla blitzing the sands of Saudi Arabia. Quintanilla completed the special stage in one hour, 32 minutes and 53 seconds.
The Chilean rider finished 37 seconds ahead of his French teammate Adrien Van Beveren who completed the stage in one hour, 33 minutes and 30 seconds.
The final podium spot in the bikes category was taken by KTM rider Toby Price. The Australian rider, who won the Dakar in 2019, finished the stage in one hour, 34 minutes and 32 seconds, a minute and 39 seconds off the pace set by Quintanilla.
Ross Branch was the faster of the two Hero riders left at Dakar 2024, with the Botswanan ending the stage in sixth overall, three minutes and 42 seconds behind the lead Honda.
Dakar legend Joan Barreda Bort will be the first rider out into the sands in the 48-hour Chrono stage that begins tomorrow. He ended the day in 27th overall (last in the Rally GP sub-category) after a couple of tumbles, 10 minutes and 25 seconds off the pace set by Quintanilla, and thankfully without any time penalties.
The two remaining Sherco riders had a good outing as well. Portugal's Rui Goncalves ended the day in 19th, seven minutes and 29 seconds off the pace. India's Harith Noah, guided his Sherco TVS home across the line in 21st place, eight minutes and 50 seconds behind the stage winner.
In the overall standings, Hero's Ross Branch has regained his spot atop the bikes leaderboard at Dakar 2024. Branch with an overall time of 19:05:03 across 5 stages leads Honda's 'Nacho' Florimo by one minute and 14 seconds.
Honda's Ricky Brabec is third overall, with the American rider three minutes and 47 seconds off the pace. Honda's Van Beveren (18:10 behind) and defending champion Kevin Benavides (21:17 behind) round off the top 5.
Hero's Joan Barreda Bort, who is riding in his last Dakar, is currently 12th in the overall rankings. Barreda Bort is currently 48:02 behind Branch which includes the 21 minutes of penalties he incurred over the previous three stages.
Sherco's Rui Goncalves currently sits 15th overall and is 57 minutes off the pace set by Branch. His Indian teammate Harith Noah is in the 18th spot, 01:24:06 behind Branch.
Cars
Two-time defending champion Nasser Al Attiyah, finally won a stage at Dakar 2024 with the Qatari driver finishing the special stage in one hour, 27 minutes and 25 seconds. This win means that Al-Attiyah has now won Dakar stages with seven different manufacturers.
Al Attiyah finished the stage, one minute and 51 seconds ahead of Overdrive Racing's Guerlain Chicherit. The French driver brought his Hilux across the line in one hour, 39 minutes and 16 seconds.
Juan Cruz Yacopini made it two Overdrive Racing Hiluxes on the podium. The Argentinian driver ended the stage seven seconds behind his teammate and one minute and 58 seconds adrift of Al Attiyah.
Two more Overdrive Racing vehicles made up the top 5, with Saudi's Yazeed Al Rajhi ending the stage two minutes behind Al Attiyah while Stage 1 winner De Mevius ended up three minutes and eight seconds behind the two-time defending champion.
Mattias Ekstrom was the fastest of the three Audis, ending the day in eighth place, five minutes and 16 seconds off the pace. The next fastest Audi was the one driven by Carlos Sainz in 28th place while Stephane Peterhansel ended the stage two places behind El Matador.
Sebastien Loeb, winner of yesterday's stage took it easy today as part of his strategy heading into the 48-hour Chrono stage that starts tomorrow. Loeb ended the day 21 minutes and 13 seconds off the pace, which included a 15-minute time penalty.
In the overall standings, Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al Rajhi continues to lead the cars at Dakar 2024 with an overall time of 17:24:04 across five stages. Today's winner and two-time defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah is now second overall and sits nine minutes and three seconds behind his Saudi rival.
El Matador Carlos Sainz is third overall and the fastest Audi in the overall standings. Sainz is currently 11 minutes and 31 seconds off the pace. Swedish Audi driver Mattias Ekstrom is in fourth place. The Swede is currently 22 minutes and 58 seconds behind Al Rajhi on the timing sheets.
Fifth place is held by Century Racing Factory team's Mathieu Serradori who trails Al Rajhi by 31 minutes. Audi's Stephane Peterhansel is in sixth place, 34:12 off the pace.
Finally, Sebastien Loeb, despite not being pedal to the metal today is still in the top 10 of the overall rankings. Loeb is currently 43:03 behind Al Rajhi on the times sheets in 9th place.
Thoughts About Dakar 2024 Stage 5
The fifth stage of Dakar 2024 saw many favourites and winners take it easy on the throttle as they looked to avoid being among the early ones to head into the dunes of the 48-hour Chrono Stage.
However, today's winners Pablo Quintanilla and Nasser Al Attiyah had no such qualms as they both blitzed the sand dunes of Sauid Arabi's Empty Quarter to claim victory.
Tomorrow will see riders and drivers head into the unknown with contestants set to take on the all-new "48 Hour Chrono Stage". This unprecedented challenge which is a two-day stage, will see riders and drivers head into the desert on separate routes (626km special for bikes, 572 for cars).
Everyone will be allowed to race till 4 pm. When the clock strikes four, the entrants will have to stop at the next of the six rest areas that punctuate the course of the special.
Once there, they will get basic camping material and enough provisions to make it through the night, but will not given any information on how their rivals are doing. The next morning they will head out and complete the stage by returning to the starting point at Shubaytah.
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