Kilometer 13 on the final day brings the end: Technical problem costs valuable points and the lead in the FIA Cross Country Rally World Championship (W2RC) Almost "zero" instead of fourth place in the unloved Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge Looking ahead: three more World...
Full throttle in the Empty Quarter: duel for the “Dakar” victory goes down to the wire
Further contributions
Into the top ten – Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk with a solid performance during the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
Eighth place with the prospect of a top five finish: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk cleverly manage the unpopular Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge ahead of the final two stages Focus on points instead of risk: "Dakar" winner with solid pace Lots of dunes with a tricky...
Surfin’ UAE – Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk start the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge as world championship leaders
With a "Dakar" recipe for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge: calculated risk at the second round of the FIA World Cross-Country Rally Championship (W2RC) "Dakar" winners Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk meet concentrated W2RC competition Terrain with the known and the unknown: dunes,...
Thumbs up, again: “Dakar” winners Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk start the FIA Baja World Cup with victory
Local hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk win the opening round of the FIA Marathon Baja World Cup in commanding style Just two weeks after winning the Dakar Rally, the Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo are taking the momentum with them to the Saudi Baja Ha'il...
Stop the press! Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk win the 2025 Dakar Rally
After 4,906 test kilometers and 14 days: Home victory for Yazeed Al-Rajhi in Saudi Arabia Timo Gottschalk celebrates second "Dakar" triumph after 2011 Toughest "Dakar" ever pushes drivers, co-drivers and equipment to their limits Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia (January 17,...
Down to the wire – Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk go into the final day of the “Dakar” as leaders
The final sprint decides: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk take a lead of 6:11 minutes into the final 61 kilometers of the Dakar Rally Dune duel: Stages in the Empty Quarter make for a worthy finale in the Lategan/Cummings versus Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk fight 276...
“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...
Stable in the pursuit: Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk consolidate “Dakar” rank two
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk use the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally to gain a cushion Late starters favored: gap in the overall standings grows to 5:41 minutes Long, demanding stage towards the capital: Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk do pioneering work in the final stage...
Jackpot at the Grande Casino – Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk within shouting distance of the “Dakar” lead
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk finish seventh on the day to reduce the gap to the leaders to 21 seconds Incorrect directions in the road book mislead all participants - sector time canceled Navigationally and technically tricky stage around Dawadimi through...
Back in action – good start to the second “Dakar” week for Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk
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...
- Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk lose their narrow “Dakar” lead on the first stage in the Rub al-Chali
- Before the decisive final two stages: Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk 2:27 minutes behind Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings
- Good starting position for both duos on the long desert stage on Thursday
Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia (January 15, 2025) – Short, but crisp and above all: tricky. Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk kept their chances of victory alive on the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally. After 4,568 of 4,982 stage kilometers, the Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo is 2:27 minutes behind Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (RSA/RSA, Toyota) in second place in the overall standings, which they had narrowly led before the stage. On the remaining 414 stage kilometers, spread over the next two days, the outcome of the race is still wide open. Two more tough desert stages in the Empty Quarter are then on the agenda. It was Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk who opened the route through the dunes early on. At kilometer 82, the runners-up got stuck in the deep sand and lost almost four additional minutes. Stage ten of the 2025 Dakar Rally was something of an appetizer for the Des(s)ert: The ultra-short, but enormously demanding special stage over 120 kilometers consisted of more than nine tenths of dunes: small, large, medium, gently rising and steeply sloping, broken and those from the picture book. The terrain of the Empty Quarter – the largest sand desert in the world – is also on the agenda for the next two days, which will determine the outcome of the Dakar Rally. The Rub al-Chali stretches over 680,000 square kilometers.
QUOTES
“We were allowed to open the route early on, which is not always easy in the dunes. We got stuck once, that happens. But everything is fine. We’re not putting any pressure on ourselves and are looking forward to the next two days in the Empty Quarter.”
YAZEED AL-RAJHI
“As expected, we lost time on this stage. After around 20 kilometers we had already caught up with those who had started ahead of us and lost a lot of time. Around 40 kilometers before the finish, we got stuck and had to maneuver our way out with sand plates. That cost us about four minutes. Tomorrow we’ll be in a better starting position and might be able to put things right.”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK