Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah won his fifth Dakar Rally driver's title and second in a row on Sunday after the iconic test of endurance finished in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.The 52-year-old won three stages and had more than an hour's advantage in the overall standings over Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, who also finished runner-up last year.Al-Attiyah's Toyota team-mate Lucas Moraes of Brazil finished third.
Al-Attiyah took the overall lead after the third stage, having built up a commanding advantage in the first week and deployed a safety first strategy in the second half of the race.Loeb, though, gave it all he could as he won a record six successive stages in the second week.
But the 48-year-old Frenchman had lost so much time on the first part of the race that it was a lost cause.Two of the main contenders Loeb's compatriot Stephane Peterhansel and Spaniard Carlos Sainz failed to finish the race.The 14th and final stage honours went to Loeb's Prodrive team-mate Guerlain Chicherit.