Qatar’s Nasser Al Attiyah ousted Yazeed Al Rajhi as leader of the cars category of the Pharaons Rally in Egypt, after the Saudi driver’s Toyota got stuck in a basin between two dunes where he lost over five minutes trying to dig himself out of trouble.

Al Rajhi held a slender but manageable two-minute lead over Al Attiyah going into the second day, provided he did not hit trouble.

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However, around the halfway stage of the second leg, Al Rajhi’s Toyota got stuck in loose sand between two dunes, the Saudi and his German co-driver Timo Gottschalk struggling for over five minutes to set the vehicle free.

But Al Rajhi, relegated to third, is undaunted by the setback, saying: “Nasser’s actual advantage is not so big, so we will keep on pushing.”

Al Attiyah said: “It was very hard to navigate today, but everything went well.

“We caught Yazeed around the 65km mark and drove together for a while. The result is good because we are first overall. It’s also good that we don’t have to start first tomorrow.”

Russian Vladimir Vasilyev, who won the test, is now second overall.