Five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah has been stripped of a smashing stage win in the Dakar Rally because of a missing spare wheel in the Saudi desert.

Toyota's South African Henk Lategan stretched his Dakar Rally lead on Thursday while a 10 minute penalty denied Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah a first stage win for Dacia after a dominant day in the Saudi Arabian desert.

Dacia driver Nasser Al-Attiyah bounced back from mechanical issues to win the fifth stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally on Thursday and climb up to fourth in the overall standings. Having lost half an hour with a puncture and a broken rear suspension on Wednesday,

Nineteen-year-old Saood Variawa of South Africa became the youngest top-class driver to win a stage in the Dakar Rally.

Five-times winner Nasser Al-Attiyah hit trouble in the Dakar Rally on Wednesday, the latest frontrunner to struggle in the Saudi Arabian sands after the departures of Sebastien Loeb and defending champion Carlos Sainz.

Dakar Rally drivers and riders recount Stage 2 of the event, where competitors took two days to traverse nearly 1000 km.

Saudi Arabian Yazeed al-Rajhi won Wednesday's fourth stage of the Dakar Rally, in which five-time winner Nasser al-Attiyah dropped to seventh overall. The special stages between Al Henakiyah and Al Ula in Saudi Arabia included 415km of racing.

Nine-times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb is out of the Dakar Rally after he rolled his Dacia in the Saudi desert on Tuesday as the race continued to take a toll of the big names after the exit of 2024 winner Carlos Sainz.

Sebastien Loeb struggled to complete Stage 3 of the Dakar Rally on Tuesday after rolling his car near the start, a setback that is likely to cost him his dream of a first title in the event. The nine-time World Rally Champion went off the road 12 kilometres into the 327-stage between Bisha and Al Henakiyah.