The 2019 Dakar Rally stage 6 took place on Sunday afternoon (SA time). After a day of rest, the teams made their way from Arequipa to San Juan de Marcona via a timed section of 290 km and a liaison of 520 km.

Easy does it

At the halfway point of the race, after stages four and five, where no external assistance was allowed, it was the Toyota Hilux pair of Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel that led the rally.

Click here for stage 5 results.

“We had a very good marathon stage yesterday,” said Al Attiyah reaching the bivouac after stage five. “The car was in perfect condition despite the long stage, but we decided to moderate our pace somewhat today. Even so, we are happy to have gone second-fastest on the day – and even happier to be leading the Dakar at the halfway mark.”

Stage honours

Al-Attiyah led most of the day. When he missed a checkpoint at km 272 he lost the lead to Sebastien Loeb. Loeb also missed the CP but lost less time than his rivals and powered through to maintain that position all the way to finish line, adding to his stage win tally. Carlos Sainz came back from a few lacklustre days to claim on the day.

Nasser Al-Attiyah retains his overall race leader. Peterhansel has been relegated to third place, by the charging Loeb, after losing time late in the day. While the leader enjoys a near 40 min lead, the teams behind are very close together on the timesheets.

Check out the official Dakar YouTube channel for a video review of the day.

1 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel Toyota 21 hr 01 min 31 sec

2 Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Peugeot +37 min 43 sec

3 Stephane Peterhansel/David Castera Mini +41 min 14 sec

4 Nani Roma/Alex Haro Bravo Mini +45 min 24 sec

5 Cyril Despres/Jean-Paul Cottret Mini Buggy +1 hr 23 min 35 sec