
Henk Lategan and Daniel Sanders maintained their positions at the front of the Dakar Rally as it resumed on Saturday, but both admitted they were taking a cautious approach ahead of the more challenging stages in the Saudi desert. The decision to hold back allowed their closest competitors to reduce their gaps, with some catching up by as much as four minutes during the sixth stage from Ha'il to Al Duwadimi.
Lategan, the South African driver leading the car category, finished seventh in the stage, 6.5 minutes behind stage winner Guillaume de Mévius from Belgium. Saudi driver Yazeed Al Rajhi, who finished fifth, gained three minutes, narrowing the gap to Lategan to seven minutes. Mattias Ekstrom from Sweden lost a couple of minutes and now trails by 22 minutes, while Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah reduced his deficit by five minutes, now 30.5 minutes behind in fourth place.
De Mévius, who was a surprise runner-up in the Dakar last year, had suffered significant time losses earlier in the rally, but on Saturday he secured a solid win ahead of Joao Ferreira from Portugal, giving Mini a 1-2 finish. However, his teammate Guerlain Chicherit had to retire after rolling his car early in the stage.
In the motorbike category, there was drama as Botswana's Ross Branch, in fourth overall, crashed out but was able to walk away and be airlifted. South Africa's Bradley Cox also crashed shortly after the stage started and later abandoned the race.
Two-time champion Kevin Benavides withdrew before the stage, citing concerns over further injury but stayed to support his brother Luciano, who had won stage five before the result was overturned following a successful appeal by Adrien van Beveren.
Van Beveren, who opened the stage, finished second just behind Ricky Brabec, the defending champion who claimed his first stage victory of this rally. Brabec gained six minutes on Sanders, now in fourth overall, while Sanders finished ninth. Tosha Schareina from Spain remains second overall, 12 minutes behind, with Van Beveren in third, 19 minutes off the lead.