Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 5, 2025 Ford M-Sport's Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz in action REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
(Reuters) - Spain's defending Dakar Rally champion Carlos Sainz flipped his Ford Raptor car in the Saudi desert dunes during the 48 hour Chrono stage on Sunday, spending more than 20 minutes at a standstill.
The four-times Dakar winner, now 62 and hoping to triumph with a fifth different manufacturer, got going again after the setback at the 327km mark of the 947km stage that started and finishes in the south-west town of Bisha.
The Spaniard, father of the Formula One driver of the same name, had started the day eighth overall and was 15th at the last checkpoint before the roll.
It was unclear how damaged the car was.
At the 413km fuel stop, Sainz's Ford teammate and compatriot Nani Roma was the virtual leader ahead of local hope Yazeed Al Rajhi and Dacia's Qatari five-times champion Nasser Al Attiyah.
The two-week rally, staged entirely in Saudi Arabia, ends on Jan. 17 at Shubaytah in the eastern Empty Quarter.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Christian Radnedge)
