The fifth stage of the 2023 edition of the Dakar Rally got off to a controversial start in the car category after a decision by the FIA to tweak the balance of performance regulations in the Rally Raid rulebook.

This had a direct effect on the on the Audi RS Q e-trons competing at the Dakar, giving the four-ring trio an extra 8 kW.

Once again, it was 14-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel who charged hard from the outset in his Audi e-tron, with teammate and WRC legend Carlos Sainz backing him up.

Try as they might, the Frenchman and Spaniard had no answer for Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Nasser Al-Attiyah, who brought his Hilux home 1 minute 57 seconds clear of Sainz and 3 minutes 44 seconds ahead of Peterhansel – second and third fastest for the day respectively.

This is Toyota Gazoo Racing’s second stage win.

“It was a very tough stage. It wasn’t easy. We tried to really push like crazy. We took a lot of risks after the decision we made yesterday. The other teams have more power and more horsepower, but I’m happy to finish today without any problems. It’s very hard because the base is that we’re pushing a lot and we are really tired,” Al-Attiyah says.

The win today has extended the Qatari’s overall lead in the car standings. Sitting in second overall, 22 minutes 36 seconds behind Al-Attiyah is Peterhansel.

“For me, it was one of the hardest stages in my life. I don’t know why. Because the car was so hard with the suspension yesterday, we changed the suspension, so maybe the shocks were not good, or the rain in the sand made it harder, but something about it was really not nice. We took a lot of impacts on the back of our necks, so it was not an easy stage for sure,” Peterhansel said.

Click here to view the standings after stage 5 of the 2023 Dakar Rally

Heavy rain in the region around Ha’il has seen the organisers modify the route for stage 6 and stage 7 – with both specials around 100 km shorter.