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

14. January 2025

Further contributions

  • 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 for the navigators

Haradh, Saudi Arabia (January 14, 2025) – New kings in the speed empire: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk have taken the narrow lead of the 2025 Dakar Rally on the ninth stage. The Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo took a total of 12:50 minutes off the previous leaders Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings on the full-throttle stage from Riyadh to Haradh. This puts the cross-country rally runners-up ahead by 7:09 minutes – and just in time before the “Dakar” undergoes a change of theme, pace and terrain on Wednesday. The cross-country rally entourage will then reach the Empty Quarter, the most hostile desert in the world. On the final three stages, the focus is on lots of dunes and sand, sand, sand. The day’s victory went to Nasser Al-Attiyah/Edouard Boulanger (QAT/FRA, Dacia), Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk were third fastest. Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk took the virtual lead in the overall standings at kilometer 123 of 357. Starting the special stage as the sixth car, they gradually caught up with the duos that had started ahead of them – a few kilometers before the stage finish, they had even closed the gap to Lategan/Cummings, who had to open the route as the stage winners of the previous day, to two minutes. A look at the statistics shows just how great the burden of the opening stage is: no driver/co-driver duo has ever managed to win two stages at the 2025 Dakar Rally. A generally rather short and crisp, fast stage with a small “but”: the navigation – the stage from Riyadh to Haradh was, in typical “Dakar” fashion, a tough one. Off-piste here, paths there, all with the “fast” or “very fast” seal of approval. Of course, not without a few rough passages through canyons and a few technical, technically demanding slopes. The special stage covered 357 kilometers against the clock, interrupted only by a neutralization break at kilometer 217.

QUOTES

“The last time on gravel before the Empty Quarter, and another really difficult stage with an enormously high pace. The navigation was really tough – Timo did a great job. Leading before the last three stages is great.”
YAZEED AL-RAJHI

“Millions of junctions! It was really difficult to find the right way, especially at that speed. Two or three corners were particularly tricky. Even Yazeed had better intuition at times – we complemented each other well. We gave it our all and our plan worked well.”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK

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