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Back in action – good start to the second “Dakar” week for Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk

11. January 2025

Further contributions

“Dakar”, fast forward – Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk take overall lead

From +5:41 to -7:09 minutes: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk take the lead in the Dakar Rally Third place on the day: courage and willpower are rewarded on the challenging stage to Haradh Particularly fast special stage over 357 kilometers with an extra challenge...

  • Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk reduce the gap in the overall standings to 7:16 minutes with fifth place on the day
  • Ideal prerequisites for the journey towards the Empty Quarter: good starting position for stage seven
  • Route from Ha’il to Dawadimi with two different sections – 605 WP kilometers, 171 of which are transfers

Dawadimi, Saudi Arabia (January 11, 2025) – Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk (KSA/GER, Toyota) got off to a perfect (re-)start: On the first stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally after the only rest day, they took more than three minutes off the overall leaders Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (RSA/RSA, Toyota) with fifth place on the day. At the same time, they widened the gap between themselves and their direct competitors. And another piece of good news: even on the seventh stage of the desert classic, they don’t have to put up with the disadvantage of having to open the route. Guillaume de Mevius/Mathieu Baumel (FRA/FRA, Mini) are working on this task. Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk also played a strategic card: in order to improve their starting position for the expected tough stage on Sunday, they slowed down towards the end of the stage.

The second week of the Dakar 2025 got off to a spectacular start: A challenging stage from Ha’il to Dawadimi with two sections of the special stage that stood out for their distinctly different characteristics. First, the participants had to tackle rocky passages before a 172-kilometer asphalt transfer allowed them a brief respite. But a real test awaited in the second half: varied, sandy terrain with gentle hills, dunes and narrow paths. A total of 605 kilometers had to be completed in competition mode on this day.

QUOTES

“At the beginning of the stage we had a real puncture, then two more slow punctures. On the transfer section, we then patched a tire and borrowed one from Saood Variawa. All in all, we’re happy with the result – we didn’t want to win the stage by any means, but we still wanted to make up time. That worked out well.”
YAZEED AL-RAJHI

“Today’s stage was tricky, with lots of stones and rubble at the start and sand and dunes at the end. We knew the second part of the stage from the Qassim Rally. Yazeed felt really comfortable here and drove really well. Nevertheless, we slowed down considerably at the end to improve our starting position for tomorrow.”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK

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