January 5, 2017 – Nasser Al-Attiyah has been forced to retire from the 2017 edition of the Dakar Rally after his Toyota Hilux sustained heavy damage in the third special stage on Wednesday.
Al-Attiyah was running 2nd overall behind Sebastien Loeb and looked set to claim the fastest time in the third special stage, but he ripped a wheel off his Toyota after hitting a hole, which damaged his car.
“It was a mistake. It’s bad luck, but this is the race; this is how the Dakar is. We were doing a really good job, we were leading, but there you go.” said Al-Attiyah after the stage.
Toyota announced Al-Attiyah’s retirement due the severity of the damage to the car’s chassis.
