One second decided the victory in the fifth stage of Dakar 2025. That was the margin by which Seth Quintero beat Nasser Al-Attiyah after 428 km of timed stages.
On a day filled with intense emotions, four drivers fought for the victory until the very end and were separated by less than a minute. Quintero (Toyota) emerged victorious, beating Al-Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders) by just one second.
However, the Qatari driver could have won had he not been penalized by ten minutes. Al-Attiyah took control after the refueling and pulled away from PK303, but the penalty relegated him to second place.
In third was Mattias Ekström (Ford M-Sport), just eight seconds behind the winner, followed by Henk Lategan (Toyota) and Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Toyota).
In the overall standings, Lategan managed to extend his lead, now having a 10m17s gap over Al Rajhi. Ekström remains in third, with Al-Attiyah now in fourth and Lucas Moraes (Toyota) in fifth. Quintero, the stage winner, is in ninth place.
