The Qatari prevailed on a relatively short, 118km special between Al-Hofuf and Shubaytah by 1:51s over Overdrive Racing’s Guerlain Chicherit in a Toyota Hilux.

With Carloz Sainz strategically slowing on Stage 5, Al-Attiyah has moved up to second in the general classification, 9:03s behind Yazeed Al Rajhi in another Overdrive Toyota.

Starting third on the road proved no problem for Al-Attiyah despite the stage being comprised entirely of dunes, with Car #200 leading at every waypoint.

Chicherit, though, came from 23rd in the road order to score second for the day and it was a similar story for his team-mate, Juan Cruz Yacopini, who set the third-fastest stage time from 18th on the road.

In fact, Overdrive Toyota entries rounded out the day’s top five, with Al Rajhi fourth and Stage 1 winner Guillaume De Mevius another spot further back.

Sixth went to Francisco Lopez Contardo in a Can-Am from the Challenger class for modified prototype cross-country vehicles, as opposed to the Ultimate class which comprises the outright competitors.

Further back, there were all sorts of tactics in play with an eye on the starting order for the ’48-hour stage’ which is coming up next.

Sainz and fellow Team Audi Sport driver Stephane Peterhansel simply opted to drive slowly, finishing 16th and 17th in the Ultimate class, respectively.

Sebastien Loeb took it to the extreme, though, deliberately missing a waypoint in his Prodrive Hunter in order to incur a 15-minute penalty.

He was 40th in the Ultimate class on the day and will be the 46th car to set off for Stage 6, when the four-wheelers take a different route to the bikes and hence have no tracks to follow, but is now 43:03s from the overall lead in ninth.

Sainz is down to third overall, 11:31s off the lead, from Audi team-mate Mattias Ekstrom, Mathieu Serradori (Century Racing), and Peterhansel.

Sainz said, “I think we need to wait two days more until we find out who has the best strategy for the next stage.”

The 48-hour stage takes place over two days, with no overnight assistance from crews and no updates on rivals’ positions until the conclusion.

CLICK HERE for Bikes report

General classification: Cars Top 10