DOHA (Qatar): Three-time champion Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah of Qatar announced he would participate in the 43rd Dakar Rally to be held next January.
Al Attiyah has won the most prestigious and gruelling rally in 20111, 2015, and 2019, and came second in this year’s edition that took place in Saudi Arabia for the first time ever.
Al Attiyah, an Olympic bronze medallist in skeet shooting in London 2012, is one of the biggest names in world rallying and had dominated the sport in the middle east.
The 49-year old is a 13-time Middle East Rally Champion, besides winning FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies four times, WRC 2 twice and the Production World Rally Championship once.
Earlier on Thursday, the organisers said the second edition of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, scheduled to run from January 3-15 next year, will start and finish in Jeddah after venturing through the desert and along the Rea Sea.
The 2021 version of the gruelling 12-day marathon will take participants into uncharted territory, with all timed sections of the loop course brand new to the race.
