Nasser Al-Attiyah was happy to finish an extremely challenging Dakar Rally in second place, with the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA driver ending forty-three minutes and forty seconds behind rally winner Carlos Sainz Sr.
The Qatari driver, alongside French co-driver Matthieu Baumel, took a rally-high four stage victories, two in the first week in Peru and two consecutive stage victories in week two in Argentina, and although the stages were tough, he praised the organisers for making it such a test for all of the competitors.
Al-Attiyah, twice a winner of the legendary rally in 2011 with Volkswagen and in 2015 with Mini, says he will be back in 2019 for another shot at becoming a three-time winner.
“It was a crazy Dakar, but we love the Dakar and would like to thank the organisers for everything, for making this a really hard Dakar,” said Al-Attiyah on RedBull.com.
“Every day the result was changing. We’ve reached the final day in second place – I think it’s not bad with all the problems we got in the first week.
“I’d like to thank the Toyota team, South Africa and Gazoo Racing. It was really hard work and I’m quite happy to finish second. I will do my best for next year to win the Dakar. Next year, we absolutely can win.”
