Ford secured its second straight stage win at the Dakar Rally on Thursday, with Mattias Ekstrom following up Nani Roma's Stage 10 win by besting Nasser Al-Attiyah -- his rival for the final podium place -- by 41 seconds on the dunes of Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter.

Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah hit the gas on Tuesday to win stage 9 of the Dakar Rally as Saudi Yazeed al-Rajhi took the lead in the drivers' standings.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi is set to win the Dakar Rally on home soil in the Saudi desert after retaking the lead from South Africa's Henk Lategan on Thursday. Lategan started the penultimate stage east of Shubaytah with a 2 1/2 minute overall lead on Al-Rajhi,

Toyota driver Lategan had held the lead since Stage 2 but he now finds himself seven behind Al-Rajhi

Lategan extends advantage over nearest challenger Yazeed Al-Rajhi