Five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah has been stripped of a smashing stage win in the Dakar Rally because of a missing spare wheel in the Saudi desert.

Nine-times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb is out of the Dakar Rally after he rolled his Dacia in the Saudi desert on Tuesday as the race continued to take a toll of the big names after the exit of 2024 winner Carlos Sainz.

Carlos Sainz's defence of his Dakar Rally title ended prematurely on Monday when the Spaniard was forced to pull out after the marathon 48-hour stage won by Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuska."It's the end of the adventure for four-time Dakar winner and defending champion Carlos Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz.

Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuška has proved he’s a contender in the Dakar Rally after winning the longest stage in the Saudi Arabia desert.

Saudi Arabian Yazeed al-Rajhi won Wednesday's fourth stage of the Dakar Rally, in which five-time winner Nasser al-Attiyah dropped to seventh overall. The special stages between Al Henakiyah and Al Ula in Saudi Arabia included 415km of racing.

With the way the Saudi Arabian dessert has been fiercely biting back at the 2025 Dakar Rally drivers and riders, with the notable premature exclusions of Carlos Sainz Sr. and Sebastian Loeb from the competition,