Toyota's Yazeed Al Rajhi leads the Dakar Rally after the first half of the 947km 48-hour chrono stage, with Nasser Al Attiyah (Dacia) following just 1m19s behind. Mattias Ekstrom holds third position in his Ford Raptor.

Major setbacks hit two top contenders: Carlos Sainz flipped his Ford Raptor, losing nearly 50 minutes despite teammate Mitch Guthrie's assistance. Sebastien Loeb's Dacia suffered a defective fan, costing him 30 minutes.

Ultimate class rookie Toby Price, a two-time Dakar bike champion, impressed in his Overdrive Toyota, positioning himself just 16m20s behind the stage leaders alongside co-driver Sam Sunderland.

In the SSV class, American Brock Heger and teammate Xavier de Soultrait dominated, while strong winds disrupted their competitors Jeremías Gonzalez Ferioli and "Chaleco" López. Sébastien Loeb Racing's Polaris drivers were the only ones to reach camp D, with teammate Florent Vayssade running third.

The motorcycle category saw continued dominance from the top three riders. Daniel Sanders leads the overall standings by 4m02s over American Ricky Brabec, with Ross Branch 5m59s behind the leader.

In the Challenger class, Nicolas Cavigliasso is positioned to win the 48h chrono stage and take the overall lead, with American Corbin Leaverton holding sixth place in the virtual overall ranking behind Red Bull Junior teammate Gonçalo Guerreiro.

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