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