Jan 9 (Reuters) - Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah will ‌lead the Dakar Rally into its second and final week after winning the sixth ‌stage in the Saudi Arabian desert on Friday to take over at the top ‌from South African rival Henk Lategan.

Al-Attiyah, a five times Dakar winner now competing for the Dacia Sandriders, had been second overnight but turned a deficit of more than three minutes into a six-minute-and-10-second advantage over the 326km timed stage between Hail ‍and Riyadh.