The Dakar Rally tested competitors on the rocky route to AlUla, with Daniel Sanders maintaining his dominance in the Bike class, now leading by over 13 minutes. In the Challenger class, Corbin Leaverton moved to second overall, ahead of teammate Gonçalo Guerreiro. The Ultimate class saw setbacks for Sébastien Loeb, who retired due to a damaged roll cage, and Nasser Al-Attiyah, who dropped to seventh after mechanical issues. Meanwhile, Mattias Ekström stayed steady in third, with Henk Lategan holding the lead. Francisco "Chaleco" López finished second in the SSV class, navigating the challenging terrain with ease.
SAUDI ARABIA- - Toyota's South African Henk Lategan stretched his Dakar Rally lead on Thursday while a 10 minute penalty denied Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah a first stage win for Dacia after a dominant day in the Saudi Arabian desert.
Lategan led Saudi local hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi, driving a Toyota for the Overdrive Racing team, by 10 minutes and 17 seconds overall after finishing third in the 428km stage five from Al Ula to Hail.
"We did a good job. It was a high pace, which means it was easy to make mistakes and lose time. I’m happy with the whole week, even if starting first the day after tomorrow wasn’t part of the plan," said Lategan.
Friday is a rest day with the second half of the two-week event starting on Saturday from Hail to Al-Duwadimi.
Five times Dakar winner Al-Attiyah had celebrated a first stage win for the Renault-owned Dacia brand but was then penalised for arriving at the finish without a spare wheel.
Toyota's American Seth Quintero was promoted to stage winner, his second of the event with the first also awarded some hours after the finish, by a single second after Al-Attiyah's penalty.
Al-Attiyah remained 35 minutes behind Lategan after starting the stage 35 minutes and 53 seconds adrift.
Without the penalty he would have had a career 49th stage win, one short of the record held jointly by Stephane Peterhansel and Ari Vatanen.
The 54-year-old is still waiting to extend his record of winning at least one stage in the Dakar Rally to 18 editions in a row.
There was no change at the top of the motorcycle category either, with Australian KTM rider Daniel Sanders seven minutes and two seconds clear of Spaniard Tosha Schareina. Botswana's Ross Branch stayed third.
"On the last 40 km, I had a little navigation instrument problem again. I’m just disappointed," said Sanders, who has led since day one.
"I’m glad it happened at the end of the stage when I was with other riders, otherwise I would have been stuck."
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia-- Goals from Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barcelona a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final in Jeddah on Wednesday to reach their third successive final.
Gavi opened the scoring in the 17th minute and Yamal doubled Barca's lead seven minutes after the break.
Barcelona, the most successful Super Cup side with 14 trophies, will face the winners of Thursday's semi-final between holders Real Madrid and Mallorca in the final on Sunday.
The earliest chances fell to Barcelona's Raphinha, who first acrobatically volleyed over and then struck a powerful free kick which keeper Unai Simon parried away, but Barca were soon rewarded for their early onslaught.
Pedri played a pass to Alejandro Balde wide in the area who pulled the ball back across to Gavi, and from just outside the six-yard box he slipped his shot through the legs of Simon.
Barca could have doubled their lead but Raphinha hit his shot straight at the keeper when put through on a one-on-one by Yamal, and Athletic finally began to create opportunities of their own.
Wojciech Szczesny got down to stop a low cross from Yuri Berchiche with Gorka Guruzeta waiting in front of goal for what would have been a simple tap-in, and the Barcelona keeper then denied Inaki Williams just before the break.
Lamal missed the last two games with an ankle injury but his performance showed why manager Hansi Flick risked the winger from the start.
Gavi turned provider with a delightful pass played forward which Lamal controlled beautifully on the turn before taking the ball into the area and coolly driving his shot past Simon.
Athletic had left a not fully fit Nico Williams out of the starting side but the winger was called into action with his side trailing, but their best chance fell to his brother Inaki who pulled his shot wide from a decent position.
Oscar de Marcos and Inaki Williams both had the ball in the net for Athletic late on but were denied by offside decisions, and Barcelona deservedly took their place in the final.
Wednesday's decision by Spain's National Sports Council (CSD) to allow Barcelona to provisionally register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor came too late for the game against Athletic, but the pair will now be available to play in Sunday's decider.
SPAIN-- Real Madrid booked their place in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey with an emphatic 5-0 win over fourth-tier Club Deportiva Minera on Monday, with striker Arda Guler scoring a superb double.
SAUDI ARABIA -- 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.
GREEN BAY --Cairo Santos drilled a 51-yard field goal on the final play of the season finale as the Chicago Bears broke a 10-game losing streak by edging the host Green Bay Packers 24-22 on Sunday afternoon.
