Riyadh, January 8 (QNA) - Nasser Al-Attiyah, driving a Dacia, retained second place in the overall standings of the 48th edition of the Dakar Rally, hosted by Saudi Arabia for the seventh consecutive year, with 812 competitors participating.

Al Attiyah finished in 16th place in the marathon's fifth stage, held on Thursday, which was dominated by the Ford Raptor, which claimed the top three positions.

For the first time since the start of the 48th edition of the rally, the overall standings remained unchanged, with South African Henk Lategan, driving a Toyota, becoming the first driver to lead the standings for two consecutive stages, despite finishing in 17th place, nearly 13 minutes behind the winner, American Mitch Guthrie.

After spending the night at the camp without any mechanical assistance, the drivers completed the second half of this marathon stage, in which Guthrie finished 1 minute and 6 seconds ahead of his teammates, Spaniard Nani Roma and Czech Martin Prokop, respectively, securing his second stage win of this edition after also winning the third stage. Guthrie benefited from Roma's time penalty of 1 minute and 10 seconds, allowing him to claim first place.

Al Attiyah, seeking his sixth title in this rally, finished sixteenth, 12 minutes and 5 seconds behind the winner, with a two-minute penalty added to his time. Despite this, he remained second overall, 3 minutes and 17 seconds behind Latigan.

The sixth stage, which begins tomorrow (Friday), will be the longest of the 48th edition, with competitors traveling from Hail to Riyadh, a distance of 920 kilometers, including 331 kilometers of timed stages.

The rally, comprising 13 diverse stages, covers a total distance of 7,994 km for cars and 7,906 km for motorcycles, of which 4,480 km are timed stages for cars and 4,748 km for motorcycles. (QNA)