Stage 5 continued as part of the 48-hour marathon stage. Adrien Van Beveren was leading the bike class but may lose his podium position due to a speeding penalty. At press time the official stage rankings made no mention of the penalty. Luciano Benavides finished second. Daniel Sanders continues to hold on to the overall rally lead.
Initially, Nasser Al-Attiyah was ready for a stage win but got slapped with a 10-minute penalty for losing a spare wheel, dropping him to second. Al-Attiyah’s penalty opened the door for Seth Quintero to get the stage win by a single second. Quintero now has two stage wins in the Dakar. Henk Lategan leads the car class overall.
Francisco Lopez Contardo won in the SSV class with Brock Heger coming in second. Heger continues to lead the class. Friday will bring a much-needed rest day for the competitors.