Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk make the most of a muddy and tricky Rally Portugal in sixth place Points maximization beats attack mode: controlled risk for a catch-up start to the season Second round of the FIA World Cross Country Rally Championship (W2RC) season...
Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk go into the second “Dakar” week in second place overall
Further contributions
Scout score: 1, day rank: 16 – Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk with another top performance at the “Dakar”
There are Wolves, Rangers and Rovers, and there are … Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk. The 2025 Dakar Rally winners showed all their skills on the third stage around al-‘Ula as they defended their title.
Back on track: Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk impress on stage two of the Dakar Rally
Back on the road to success: “Dakar” title defenders Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk have made their first mark in the Dakar Rally with third place on the day.
First things come differently … – Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk with frustrating “Dakar” stage at the beginning
Now it’s time to go: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk have started the 2026 Dakar Rally with a lot of lost time.
On the pace at the start – Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk with a solid prologue at the Dakar Rally
Sixth position on short 22-kilometer prologue - Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk in tightly bunched leading group Brevity with spice: Tricky opening stage in terms of driving and navigation sets the "Dakar" tone early on The real kick-off follows on Sunday with the first stage...
In demand, hunted – Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk take on the “Dakar” title defense mission
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk start the 2026 Dakar Rally from January 3 to 17 in Saudi Arabia as defending champions in a tricky mission.
New car, new victory, new title
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk end the 2025 cross-country rally season with a victory and the title of Saudi Arabian champions New car for the Dakar Rally: tested, tried, run in Jeddah Rally offers compact preparation for the January highlight: the "Dakar" title...
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk win Baja Qassim
First success on the "Road to the 'Dakar'" - Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk win round of the Saudi Arabian Rally Championship Terrain in the province of Qassim good preparation for the Dakar Rally in January Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk gain rally and self-confidence after around 400...
“Road to the ‘Dakar'” through Morocco particularly rocky
Not yet back to 100 percent – that’s the realization for Yazeed Al-Rajhi/Timo Gottschalk after the Morocco Rally.
Important kilometers on the “Road to Dakar” – Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk competitive in Portugal
Lisbon, Portugal (September 28, 2025) – Carefully feeling their way back to the top of the world: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk showed good form at the Rally Portugal. The Dakar winners proved their competitiveness on many stages of the fourth round of the FIA...
- Clever management after the previous day’s stage win: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk fifth on the last stage before the rest day
- Second position in the overall standings secured: Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo cushions the disadvantage of the route opening
- Stage five leads from al-‘Ula to Ha’il with fast slopes at the start and technical sections towards the finish
Ha’il, Saudi Arabia (January 8, 2025) – Disadvantage cushioned, perfect starting position created for the start of the second “Dakar” week: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk defended their second position in the overall standings at the Dakar Rally with fifth place on the day after winning the previous day’s stage. As the first vehicle on the route, they lost time to those behind them, as expected, but kept the time loss to a minimum. They even made common cause with the overall leaders Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (RSA/RSA) towards the end and rode in a pack with them for long stretches. This added up to a 3:23-minute gap, which adds up to a total of 10:17 minutes – so everything is still open for the second “Dakar” week. After the rest day on Friday, the Dakar Rally starts again on Saturday, working its way from the north of Saudi Arabia to the Empty Quarter, where the world’s most hostile desert awaits with major challenges. 2,748 stage kilometers have been completed so far, 2,464 are still to come. The 428 km long special stage from al-‘Ula to Ha’il began with a powerful wake-up call. Out of the marathon bivouac, it was full speed ahead before the sandy surface caused the average speeds to drop. The closer the teams got to Ha’il, the more stones, rocks and scree were on the agenda. A “Dakar” certainty was confirmed once again: a rest day always has to be earned first with a lot of hard work in the desert. This was also the case in 2025: the final stage of the first “Dakar” week challenged drivers and co-drivers alike.
QUOTES
“The first week of the Dakar Rally is over and we are still at the front of the field. I think we did a good job again today. The navigation was anything but easy for Timo, but we did a good job. Of course, those who started further back will make up a lot of time – it’s a constant give and take. Hopefully it will be our turn again the day after tomorrow …”
YAZEED AL-RAJHI
“The stage today was really tough again. Lots of tricky navigation, lots of sand, lots of stones and boulders in the sand that you had to drive over … it had everything, including some super-fast sections. We can make up for the time we lost today by opening up the day after tomorrow. The important thing is to take a day off in between!”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK