Stage 4 of Dakar 2021 was a long one spanning 813 kilometres from the overnight loop at Wadi Ad-Dawasir back to the capital city of Riyadh. Nasser Al-Attiyah had a near-flawless run with third consecutive Stage win under his belt. The Qatari finished with a time of 2:35:59, mere 11 seconds clear of overall leader Stephan Peterhansel.
Driving X-Raid Mini, Peterhansel is starting to feel the heat of the competition as his overall lead has been reduced to less than four minutes now. It was a close competition fought between the top dogs in Stage 4, with little less than three minutes separating the top four finishers.
Dakar rookie Henk Lategan proved that his previous second position finish wasn’t just a fluke and he has what it takes to win a Dakar title – which could be as early as this year. The 26-years old South African in his Toyota Gazoo finished third, just 1:30 seconds behind his teammate Nasser. He is now fourth overall.
Meanwhile, defending champion Carlos Sainz is still suffering from the 31-minute delay he suffered on Stage 3. Even after a near-perfect run, although not sans with difficulties, Sainz suffered a last-minute puncture, dropping to fourth yet maintaining his position in overall standing at a contentious third.
Relative newcomer but not alien to the merciless competition Sebastian Loeb came in at the seventh position. But the WRC champion gained a position in the overall standing, now in fourth behind Sainz. Meanwhile, his teammate Nani Roma has managed to mark an entry in top 10 overall with a 13th position finish in Stage 4.
Another Dakar Legend, Jakub Przygonski finished three minutes behind Sainz, but ahead of Khalid Al-Qassimi’s Peugeot. Rounding off the table was Vladimir Vasilyev and Brian Baragwanath in the eight and ninth position followed by Orlando Terranova in X-raid's 4x4 Mini Coopers.
Without having any Stage wins so far, Stephen Peterhansel leads the chart in the overall standing closely followed by Al-Attiyah. Defending his crown, Sainz is now 36:19 seconds behind his 13-time Dakar-winning teammate. Debutant Lategan is fifth ahead of Przygonski, Serradori and Al Qassimi. Benzina Driving a Ford this year, Martin Prokop is running ninth and BRX driver Nani Roma complete the top 10.
In the sad news, Bernhard Ten Brinke of Overdrive Toyota had to end his 2021 campaign early as his Hilux went into a roll and suffered heavy damage in the previous Stage preventing him from taking part in Stage 4.
