At 4:00 PM local time, the Dakar participants were notified to find the nearest bivouac where they can spend the night. The 48-hour stage is a novelty during this Dakar. No team assistance is permitted and there are means of communication available to participants. The stage results will be drawn up on Friday afternoon.
Nasser Al Attiyah (Hunter), Mattias Ekström (Audi), Guerlain Chicherit (Toyota), Martin Prokop (Ford), Giniel de Villiers (Giniel De Villiers) and Carlos Sainz (Audi) passed point E and will reach point F after 476 km stay overnight. These riders rode 402 of the total 547 km. The standings show that Sainz has a lead of 4:31 over his teammate Mattias Ekström. Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin are currently third at 5:19 behind Sainz. The Spaniard deliberately dropped out on Wednesday and finished 16th so he could start later on Thursday morning. Loeb did more or less the same and voluntarily took a 15-minute penalty by missing a waypoint. Their gamble seems to be working. Guillaume de Mévius spends the night in bivouac E and is currently tenth.
With Sainz and Ekström, Audi has two cars that are at the top. Peterhansel, who previously won his 50th stage in the car class in this Dakar, can rest his ambitions on a good end result. After 256 km it suffered a puncture and a problem occurred with the hydraulic jack system. Peterhansel also had no hand jack on board and therefore had to improvise. The Frenchman has now arrived in bivouac C where he will spend the night.
Earlier in the day, leader Yazeed Al Rajhi had to give up after a somersault. After 51 km he rolled over at top speed. The crew was unharmed, but the car was severely damaged. Al Rajhi returned to the bivouac. During the rest day an attempt is made to rebuild the car. After inspection by the FIA it will become clear whether he can start again on Sunday.
Stage 6B starts on Friday morning. On Friday afternoon, the participants arrive at the Shubaytah bivouac, where the rest day will be organized on Saturday. Only then will an official ranking be drawn up.