Overview
- Nasser Al-Attiyah dominated the Hail–Riyadh special to turn a four-minute deficit into a 6:10 overall lead, earning his 49th Dakar stage win and fronting Dacia’s first 1-2 with Sébastien Loeb.
- Former leader Henk Lategan fell to second, Nani Roma rose to third overall, and Carlos Sainz sits fourth after losing time to navigation errors.
- Race officials penalized Daniel Sanders six minutes for speeding at 98 km/h in a 50 zone, giving Ricky Brabec the Stage 6 victory and cutting Sanders’ motos advantage to 45 seconds.
- Luciano Benavides, winner of the Stage 5 marathon, is third in the motos general at 10:15 back after finishing sixth on Stage 6.
- Spanish driver and TV host Jesús Calleja exited the rally following a Stage 5 rollover and later criticized course signage and start-order rules, reporting bruising and back pain.