Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Nasser Al-Attiyah have been handed penalties by the FIA for exceeding permitted speed limits after finishing first and second in stage two of the Dakar Rally. Speed limits are dictated during non-timed liaison running,

Bisha: Saudi driver Yazeed Al Rajhi led at the midway point of the marathon 48-hour second stage of the Dakar Rally yesterday as two big names suffered a wretched day in the dunes. Carlos Sainz lost 40 minutes after his Ford Raptor flipped while Sebastien Loeb's hopes of winning his first title cooled with a fan issue on his Ford.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi came out on top in the 48-hour chrono stage at the Dakar Rally as Henk Lategan took over the overall lead. Toyota privateer Al-Rajhi finished with a time of 10h32m54s, 4m29s up on Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah after the duo pulled clear on the first day of the mammoth stage.

Carlos Sainz's defence of his Dakar Rally title ended prematurely on Monday when the Spaniard was forced to pull out after the marathon 48-hour stage won by Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuska. "It's the end of the adventure for four-time Dakar winner and defending champion Carlos Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz.