Nasser
Al Attiyah
Qatar
·
Rally Raid
Date of birth | 21 December 1970 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Doha |
Age | 55 |
Nationality | Qatar |
Career start | 1999 |
Disciplines | Rally Raid Car |
Nasser Al-Attiyah is an extremely ambitious rally driver and skeet shooter who’s always motivated to stay on top of his game. A five-time winner of the Dakar Rally and a bronze medallist in shooting, he’s now considered an icon of Qatari sports.
Nasser’s rise to glory at the Dakar Rally has been astonishing. He finished second in 2010 – just 2m 12s behind Carlos Sainz, which is still the narrowest margin in the history of the race.
A year later he went one better and won the competition, becoming the first Arab to do so. But that wasn’t enough and he secured a second Dakar title in style, dominating the 2015 edition of the toughest rally-raid event from start to finish in a Mini.
More success came in 2015 for the Qatari speedster and his French co-driver Mathieu Baumel as they won the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup. The duo then switched to a Toyota in 2017 and two years later delivered the Japanese brand their first Dakar win.
Nasser once again showed blistering form throughout the 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country-Rallies and started 2022 with a bang. Racing the new-look Toyota Hilux T1+ model at the Dakar Rally, he dominated his rivals to win his fourth title and first in Saudi Arabia.
His stellar start to 2022 turned into a brilliant summer as well, as Nasser took on some of his biggest rally-raid rivals in the inaugural FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, which he won over Sébastien Loeb in thrilling final showdown at the Andalucia Rally.
Nasser successfully defended his Dakar title in 2023 with Toyota Gazoo Racing, as he took his fifth driver's title in Saudi Arabia.
His bid to become the first driver to win the Dakar Rally with four different manufacturers ended in disappointment in 2024, though, as he was forced to walk away from his malfunctioning Prodrive Hunter vehicle.
Nasser's quest to win with a fourth manufacturer will continue at the 2025 Rally Dakar, as he joins the all-new Dacia Sandriders Team in a powerhouse squad alongside Sébastien Leob and Cristina Gutiérrez. The early signs point to both Nasser and the Dacia being ready to go for glory after he won the traditional Dakar warm-up, the punishing Rallye du Maroc, in his first outing in the car.
As well as multiple Dakars, Nasser has also won the WRC-2 title
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
The face of a man who's enjoyed a WRC wildcard
© Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
Nasser making sure the Dacia Sandrider's sump is up to the job
© Tyrone Bradley/Red Bull Content Pool
Celebrating victory in the Abu Dhabi Rally
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool