Al-Attiyah’s bid for a sixth career win in Dakar took a crushing blow on the 48-hour Stage 6 when his Prodrive Hunter screeched to a halt just before the penultimate waypoint with a broken steering bearing, leaving him stranded in Empty Quarter.
The Qatari driver was eventually able to get the car repaired with the assistance from his team, but by the time he reached the final bivouac at Shubaytah he had already dropped 2hr45 mins to the leaders.
With Al-Attiyah now out of the running, Loeb is now the only driver with a realistic chance of overhauling Audi duo Sainz and Ekstrom in the 46th edition of the prestigious rally-raid as the field heads to Riyadh for a much-needed rest day.
Loeb, competing for Prodrive under the Bahrain Raid Xtreme banner, came from behind on Friday to claim his second stage victory of 2023 and move up to third in the standings, 29 minutes behind Sainz.
An overall win at Dakar has eluded the Frenchman despite seven previous attempts, but Al-Attiyah hopes he can spoil Audi’s party in the second week of Dakar.
"It wasn't a good day," said Al-Attiyah. "We broke a steering bearing with 50 kilometers to go and we had to wait for our assistance to repair it. It's a pity, because we had a good special stage despite starting at the front yesterday. In any case, we will continue and see what we can do".
"The idea is to help Seb [Loeb] to win the Dakar. I'll do everything I can to make it happen".
Source: Autosport