Al-Attiyah "lucky" car fire didn't wreck Dakar victory bid

Al-Attiyah, who is chasing his third Dakar win, was quickest through the Paraguay-based 39km timed section that opened the 2017 event.

However, as smoke filled the cabin of his Toyota, the Qatari had to pull over and extinguish the flames.

"The stage was really good, we started strong, I think we were leading all the way - and suddenly we caught fire, it started smoking inside the cabin," Al-Attiyah said.

"When we stopped at the finish, we saw the flame - but okay, it's good that it happened in a small stage and not in a big stage."

Although Al-Attiyah said his car was largely undamaged, it did not travel to the bivouac in Resistencia in Argentina under its own power.

Instead, it was towed by first Giniel de Villiers and then Conrad Rautenbach for the remainder of road section.

"The good thing is that we won the stage, it was a short stage, we managed to stop the fire after the stage and then we decided to tow the car until the bivouac," Al-Attiyah explained.

"A small pipe was broken and all the oil was spraying on the exhaust.

"Not really a lot of damage, but there is a lot of electrics, we were scared we'd get some big problem if we started the engine again.

"The car is completely new... this sometimes happens. We are lucky to be here in the bivouac."