The factory Toyota team led the majority of the 465km special between Al Qaisumah and Riyadh, with three-time Dakar winner Al-Attiyah setting the early pace and teammate Henk Lategan taking over at the third waypoint.
Sainz was the next driver to take to the front, moving clear of the Toyotas at the eighth waypoint, and he quickly built a one-minute lead in his electric Audi.
However, a second victory in as many stages wasn’t to be, a broken bearing on his car forcing him to limp to the finish line.
The Spaniard’s mechanical troubles initially promoted Al Rajhi to a provisional victory in the Overdrive Toyota, the Saudi driver having gone quicker than Al-Attiyah in the 40km stretch between waypoints 8 and 9.
But there was late drama in Dakar when Al Rajhi was hit with a two-minute penalty for overspeeding, allowing Al-Attiyah to come through and take a second stage win of 2022.
The Qatari driver finished just 25 seconds clear of World Rally legend Sebastien Loeb, who recovered…
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