Yazeed Al Rajhi (Toyota Overdrive) not only climbed into second place in the general rankings of the Dakar, but this performance could prove valuable to him right up to the final at the Rallye du Maroc, because through finishing as the highest placed driver enrolled in the W2RC he gained 5 points, allowing him to close in on Loeb (Prodrive), who went empty-handed today. His team-mate Nani Roma, out of the reckoning for the title in Jeddah, can look further ahead and now focus on his consistency until the end of the season. By pocketing 4 points today, he in turn closes in on the Saudi driver. Al-Attiyah remains in the lead with a total of 20 points, in front of Loeb on 18 points, Al Rajhi on 14 points and Roma on 12 points. The match between the European drivers at Prodrive and the Middle Eastern drivers at Toyota Gazoo Racing and Toyota Overdrive seems well underway. In the T3 class, Seth Quintero (Red Bull) continues his fine harvest. His 25 points have all been gathered in chunks of 5 which is synonymous with victory! However, his off day at the beginning of the race allows “Chaleco” López (EKS South Racing) to remain within just 3 points, thanks to his consistency. Cristina Gutiérrez is closing in on their struggle by grabbing 4 points thanks to 2nd place today, whilst Marco Carrara and Fernando Alvarez scored their first points. In the T4 class, Marek Goczał (Cobant-Energylandia Rally Team) continues to collect the points with a second batch of 5, but Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira (South Racing Can-Am) stays in the overall lead with 20 points more than Marek’s brother, Michał Goczał, and Austin Jones (Can-Am Factory South Racing). In the truck category, Martin Macík (Big Shock Racing) has the highest score in all the categories together with a total of 27 points out of 30 available! Kees Koolen (Project 2030) enhanced his position by finishing 2nd in the category and now totals 19 points, sandwiched in between Macík and the other Big Shock Racing driver, Martin Šoltys and his 14 points.
