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...
Important kilometers on the “Road to Dakar” – Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk competitive in Portugal
Further contributions
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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 World Rally Championship (W2RC), but also suffered a setback. On the second stage, lying in sixth place overall, they unfortunately hit a bridge barrier and had to retire early that day. Nevertheless, they proved their pace on the remaining stages, even after returning to the rally. Although the Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo took a cautious approach, they were on par with the world’s best on those sections where they pushed hard.
In Portugal, they covered important kilometers to get back into the rhythm of competition and are overall on the right track – which will continue with the Rally Morocco and two rallies in Saudi Arabia, culminating in their title defense at the 2026 Dakar Rally in January.
Overall victory in Rally Portugal went to Lucas Moraes/Armand Monleon (BRA/ESP) ahead of their Toyota teammates Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (RSA/RSA).
QUOTES
“We wanted to get back into the rhythm of rallying here in Portugal and see how we measure up against the competition. Overall, we are on the right track. The rally was difficult and more like a sprint rally than a real marathon rally. Except for the mishap with the bridge barrier, we are satisfied.“
YAZEED AL-RAJHI
”The Rally Portugal was extremely tricky for both drivers and co-drivers with its narrow sections in World Rally Championship style. For us navigators, there were a lot of announcements to make and a lot of roadbook entries, but overall they weren’t particularly precise. We are satisfied so far and have shown our usual pace in some sections. We want to continue to use the upcoming rallies to get back to 100 percent by the time the Dakar comes around.”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK