Settling a deal to drive a borrowed racecar, the 52-year-old victory bounced back after crashing out in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. 

Superstar Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and his famed co-driver Mathieu Baumel defended their titles as they steered into victory at the Qatar International Baja, on Sunday.

Dubbed the favourite ahead of the weekend tournament, Al Attiyah dominated in his borrowed Toyota GR DKR Hilux, edging past racers Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov.

Finishing 16 minutes and 21.6 seconds ahead of Krotov and his teammate, Al Attiyah praised those who supported him in his triumph.

“It was a good Baja. The first day I had a small margin and the second day I pushed a lot. I thank Jean-Marc (Fortin) from Overdrive Racing for bringing me a new car and thanks to Qatar Airways for flying this car over very swiftly so that I was able to compete here,” Al Attiyah said.

“I am very glad to win here again on my home race. I always want to compete in every international event in Qatar and it’s great to bounce back with a win after my big crash in Abu Dhabi,” the five-time Dakar winner added.

Despite losing to the Qatari driver, Krotov appeared content with his finish.

“After 35km, I had to stop and change the tyres. After that we lost a little power and didn’t have a big speed. One turbo was not working. But the race was good and I enjoyed the stages,” said the Kyrgyz driver.

Tackling a road of 224.96km on the final day, Al Attiyah recorded the fastest time in the car race in kickoff on Thursday.

Booking a time of 5 minutes and 49.5 seconds in their Toyota Hilux and leading the car section by 4.8 seconds in the Prologue stage of the tournament, Al Attiyah was destined to clinch his 10th title in the Baja race.