Rally Raid
Nasser Al-Attiyah is ready to win back-to-back Dakar Rallys on 2 continents
Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah won the Car class at last year's Dakar Rally in Peru, but can the Toyota team leader triumph once again when the race relocates to Saudi Arabia for 2020?
A sheikh and medal-winning skeet shooter, Nasser Al-Attiyah is not your traditional rally-raid driver. He's every bit the successful racer however, competing in the Dakar Rally 14 times since 2004 and winning the event three times. He's also the defending 2019 race champion and he's back again to defend his title with Toyota for 2020, as the race moves continents to relocate in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Attiyah has a huge wealth of experience after starting his career as a privateer in a Mitsubishi, before going on to drive for a large array of manufacturers, including BMW, Volkswagen, Hummer and MINI. Could 2020 be his year again?
Category
While some of his top rivals are taking on the Dakar in MINIs, Al-Attiyah will be behind the wheel of a Toyota for the fourth year running. For 2020, he'll be driving the Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux.
Co-driver
Toyota's support isn't the only thing to remain constant for Al-Attiyah as he gears-up to attempt to win his fourth Dakar Rally. Once again the Qatari will be driving alongside trusted co-driver Matthieu Baumel, a Frenchman who's competed in 12 Dakars to date and taken top honours at two of them.
Race record
If Al-Attiyah's three Dakar Rally wins weren't impressive enough, you don’t have to dig deep to see just how talented a driver he actually is. Other palmarès include multiple WRC-2 championship wins, huge success in the Middle East Rally Championship, including 14 championship titles, Silk Way Rally glory and more than 30 stage wins in the Dakar alone.
Biggest rival
It's hard to look past Stéphane Peterhansel as a huge rival for Al-Attiyah. The defending champion against the sport's all-time great is battle we we can't wait to see. Who'll come out on top?
Al-Attiyah in action at the Rally du Maroc
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
In his own words
"Give me some sand and I'm happy," admitted Al-Attiyah, talking to Dakar.com. "I'm pleased with the changes that have been made to our Toyota. We have a new chassis and the car has really progressed."
Chances of success
The defending champion remains with a team he knows, a co-driver he's comfortable with and is competing in a terrain he loves. As such, Al-Attiyah is a key man to watch.
