Al-Attiyah: “A lot of stress” after navigator mistake dents Dakar hopes

Nasser Al-Attiyah has revealed he’s left with a “lot of stress” after a navigation error on Stage 10 dented his hopes of scoring a sixth profession victory within the Dakar Rally.

The Dacia star opened the street on Wednesday’s first go to to the gruelling Empty Quarters of Saudi Arabia, however a mistake by co-driver Edouard Boulanger meant they misplaced their manner simply 9km into the stage.

They subsequently dropped 13 minutes heading in direction of the primary checkpoint and, with little probability to make up misplaced floor in a stage that ran for simply 120km, recorded their worst end of Dakar 2025 in thirtieth.

Baffled by not with the ability to discover the proper route within the dunes, the 54-year-old admitted that the occasions of Thursday had dampened his spirits forward of the ultimate two phases of the rally-raid.

“From the beginning we bought misplaced, Edouard took the unsuitable route and we made an enormous mistake, greater than 20 kilometres,” Al-Attiyah mentioned. 

“I am disillusioned, however we will not do any extra. I haven’t got an excellent feeling, it is by no means occurred to me earlier than, I’ve by no means been misplaced within the dunes, however, I do not know.

“I want to speak and see what occurred, as a result of now there’s a whole lot of stress, we have to speak.”

He added: “I am very disillusioned, however what are you able to do? We might have had an important stage, however we’ll see what place we’re in and what we are able to do tomorrow.

“Each day is essential, and we had an excellent tempo, however we misplaced a whole lot of time. That is essentially the most disappointing day of my life.”

Al-Attiyah’s long-time co-driver Boulanger took full duty of the error and defined what occurred at the beginning of the stage that triggered him to lose his bearings.

“It wasn’t onerous over the entire day, it was onerous as a result of I made an enormous mistake at kilometre 10,” he mentioned.

“There have been two drawings, two similar bins [on the roadbook], and I merely jumped a line.  So I made an actual mistake at kilometre 10, taking the unsuitable course for greater than three kilometres.

“After that, I used to be centered on following my cap as a result of there was a waypoint to catch up behind. By the point I realised my mistake, I do not understand how a lot time we misplaced. However the day wasn’t onerous, it is simply that I made a mistake.”

#200 The Dacia Sandriders Dacia: Nasser Al-Attiyah, Boulanger Edouard

Picture by: Crimson Bull Content material Pool

With two comparatively brief phases left in Dakar 2025, Al-Attiyah is fourth within the standings and faces a big 30-minute deficit to general chief Toyota driver Henk Lategan.

Even to complete on the rostrum, he should get well nearly 4 minutes to Ford rival Mattias Ekstrom in Shubaytah, the place the final two phases are being held.

Having beforehand expressed a whole lot of confidence about his probabilities in Dakar this yr, Al-Attiyah is now much more apprehensive about his potential to salvage a win.

“I do not know, we’ll see what we are able to do tomorrow,” he mentioned of his victory hopes. “There is a lengthy, lengthy strategy to go, we’ll see what we are able to do, we’re ready for Henk Lategan to see.

“I am all the time assured, daily, but when we make a mistake like this, it isn’t the sport, I’ve to repair the issue.”