The 2022 Dakar Rally Stage 2 was another long affair. Stage two took place between Ha’il and Al Qaisumah. The open road section was 453 km which was followed by a timed section of 338 km, very similar in length to Stage 1b.

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Front runners

Nasser Al-Attiyah took the opening two stages of the 2022 event. The Qatari was not challenged on either day. He was aiming for a hat-trick of stage wins at the start of the day. However, the rally leader would not have the day all to himself. He set off at a good pace but hot on the tail of Attiyah was Sébastien Loeb and his co-pilot Fabian Lurquin. The BRX Hunter T1+ mounted pair posted the best time on several of the checkpoints. Local hero Yazeed Al Rajhi was also setting a fast pace early on.

Stage winner

Sébastien Loeb’s pace and lead remained unchallenged throughout the day. The Frenchman took his 15th stage victory over Nasser Al-Attiyah. This is the very first victory for Prodrive on the Dakar. The English outfit has tasted plenty of success on the WRC, but never before on the most prestigious rally-raid in the world. Loeb’s stage win today means he’s closed the gap to Al-Attiyah in the overall rankings heading into stage 3, as you can see below.

After a forgetful day in stage 1b for the three RS Q e-trons, Carlos Sainz claimed third. His teammate Stephane Peterhansel also had a better day by finishing fourth. Peterhansel aka Mr Dakar has a 16-hour penalty for not finishing Stage 1 and is therefore effectively out of the running. Loeb’s teammate Nani Roma finished fifth, while Toyota driver Al Rajhi was sixth.

Fastest SA lads

Al-Attiyah’s Toyota Gazoo Racing teammates Henk Lategan and Giniel de Villiers, both from SA, finished seventh and eighth places, respectively. Brian Baragwanath in the CR6 was 14th with Shameer Variawa in 28th. De Villiers’ run today has brought him up to fourth overall.

General classification after 2022 Dakar Stage 2

  1. Nasser Al-Attiyah Toyota 6 hr 59 min 21 sec
  2. Sébastien Loeb BRX +9 min 16 sec
  3. Lucio Alvarez Toyota +40 min 53 sec
  4. Giniel de Villiers Toyota +41 min 22 sec
  5. Vladimir Vasilyev VRT +43 min 39 sec
  6. Martin Prokop Benzina Orlen +44 min 53 sec 
  7. Sebastian Halpern Mini +47 min 17 sec
  8. Yazeed Al Rajhi +48 min 53 sec
  9. Jakub Przygonski Mini +59 min 21 sec
  10. Orlando Terranova BRX  1 hr +05 min 03 sec