IN a rally race that was filled with shocking exits and sensational wins, Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed al Rajhi took the major crown as the winner of the Dakar Rally in his home country of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, alongside co-driver Timo Gottschalk.
The Dakar Rally is an annual, gruelling off-road endurance race that takes place in 12 stages over several days, covering thousands of kilometres across challenging terrains such as deserts, mountains, and rocky paths. It moved to Saudi Arabia from South America, which hosted the race after its namesake city in Sudan.
Saudi’s Al Rahji, 43, took the overall Dakar win at the end of the 12th and last stage in Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia.
“I am very, very happy to do it, it is not an easy race, it’s the toughest one that I’ve done in the last eleven years,” Rajhi told France24.
“Also, it’s the first time there is a winner on the Dakar from the same country in which it is raced, with a Saudi guy winning a Saudi Dakar.”
The Overdrive pilot held onto his overnight lead to beat South Africa’s Henk Lategan of Toyota Gazoo Racing with co-driver Brett Cummings by four minutes, who made a historic podium in second place for the South African. Yazeed al Rahji’s previous best finish was third in 2022.
The results from the final 12th stage of the rally ended in tight margins, the tightest since 2010. This was Lategan’s fourth attempt at the rally, and prior to his podium, his best position was fifth place.
“It’s tough to come this far, to lead the race for that long, and have a really good race going, just to lose out by only a few minutes at the end. We really gave it our best,” Lategan said.
“The team has been absolutely unbelievable with getting us to where we are, keeping the car in the race, and keeping us going. Ray did an amazing job on the navigation.”
“I sat out a year, and to jump back in and immediately be fighting with the top guys is unbelievable. We had a great race, it’s sad to lose it by such a small margin with everything that’s happened, but we will come back fighting,” he said.
Sweden’s Ekstrom and Bergkvist, in the Ford M-Sport Raptor T1+ in its rally debut, completed the podium in third but ended over 20 minutes behind the leaders.
The Swedish pair claimed two second-place finishes in the prologue and stage seven, respectively, but proved their endurance with their Stage 11 win in the Empty Quarter.
“It has been an incredible experience,” said Ekström.
“We can be very proud as a team that we were able to fight at the front, showing good pace and consistency. The quality of the Ford Raptor T1+ was outstanding throughout the race. Now, I’m looking forward to returning next year and pushing for the overall win.”
South African driver Saood Varawia of Toyota Gazoo Racing team and French co-driver François Cazalet came 29th overall.
Dakar (in Saudi Arabia) was filled with shock exits and treacherous routes that claimed wheels from the three competing stages: cars, trucks, and dirt motorbikes.
Defending champion Carlos Sainz of Spain withdrew when a big crash on the second stage of the rally left his car with irreparable damage.
Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz drove the second Ford Raptor T1+, which rolled and landed on its roof after a jump 327 kilometres into the stage on Sunday, suffering damage to the car’s roll cage structure.
Repairs to the roll cage structure are not permitted during the event, and the damage to Sainz’s roll cage exceeded the limit, which posed a serious risk to both drivers in the event of a repeat accident.
Sainz managed to finish the gruelling 48-hour stage on Monday, but the Spaniard has been prevented from taking any further part in the event due to the damage sustained in the crash.
A Ford statement read: “Due to the damage sustained to the safety cage of vehicle #225 during the accident in the first part of the 48-hour stage of the Dakar Rally 2025 and in accordance with FIA regulations, it has been decided to withdraw the vehicle.”
Long-time Dakar Rally South African racer Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz of Toyota Gazoo Racing were also forced to withdraw from the race because von Zitzewitz suffered a neck injury during stage six, and medical staff deemed it too unsafe to continue. The South African ranked 15th overall, having completed 14 races so far.
France’s nine-time world rally champion, Sebastien Loeb, departed early from the race after he was disqualified by race stewards when his Dacia car was damaged in a crash.
The 2025 edition of the Dakar Rally was considered one of the championship’s most dangerous, with media reporting that 40% of the participants withdrew.
