RIYADH: Spaniards Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz powered Ford to a commanding one-two at the top of the Dakar Rally car standings on Tuesday after a punishing ninth stage in the Saudi Arabian desert tested the frontrunners. Roma edged ahead of compatriot Sainz to take the overall lead, marking a remarkable return to the top of the leaderboard 12 years after his Dakar triumph.
Qatari driver and five-time winner Nasser Al-Attiyah slipped from the lead to third for Dacia, but remains firmly in the hunt, just one minute and 10 seconds behind Roma. Toyota’s South African Henk Lategan sits fourth, around five minutes further adrift after a chaotic day.
“I had three punctures today, but I think everyone had problems,” Roma said. “We are positive to be here.”
Sainz echoed the difficulty of the stage, admitting navigation proved tricky after cars were forced onto a different route from the bikes, leaving no tracks to follow.
Lategan summed up his ordeal as “a little bit of a disaster of a day” after getting lost, suffering a puncture, a broken windscreen and losing power steering—setbacks that underline just how unforgiving Dakar can be as the rally heads into its decisive stages.
