Despite the setback, the five-time Dakar Rally champion promises to make a strong comeback in the tournament. 

Despite a storming prologue win, Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah slipped to sixth place in the afternoon session on Wednesday as Frenchmen Guerlain Chicherit led the Rally-Raid Portugal overall standings after prevailing in the opening stage.

Paired with his French co-driver Edouard Boulanger, the Qatari speed racer driver vowed to make a strong comeback.

“The stage was fantastic, with a lot of fans, good roads, and different surfaces. The machine is perfect, so tomorrow we’ll attack,” Al Attiyah said.

Five-time Dakar Rally champion Al Attiayah topped the opening 3.53km Prologue stage in the Grandola of Portgual, finishing 79 seconds behind the race leader at the end of the opening stage.

Coming in first, Chicherit and his new co-driver Mathieu Baumel finished the first of five stages of the third round of the Rally-Raid World Championship in one hour and 13:54 minutes, while Saudi driver Yazeed Al Rajhi finished in second.

Previously a co-driver with Al-Attiyah, Baumel famously won the Dakar Rally four times and the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies four times

The Rally-Raid Portugal ends on April 7th, and drivers will assemble once again on Argentinan roads in June for the Desafio Ruta 40.

At 53 years old, Al Attiyah has collected five Dakar Rally and 18 Middle East Rally Championship titles.

His five victories in the Dakar Rally make him the only Middle Easterner and West Asian to win the competition more than once.