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.
Into the top ten – Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk with a solid performance during the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
Further contributions
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...
Engine failure! Bitter disappointment for Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk in Abu Dhabi
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...
- 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 rhythm and character – Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge challenges participants
Mezeer’ah, United Arab Emirates (February 25, 2025) – The expected relentless three-way battle at the front, the announced restraint of the “Dakar” winners: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk have finished the first three of five stages of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in eighth place overall. While the top three in the standings – Nasser Al-Attiyah/Edouard Boulanger (QAT/FRA, Dacia), Sébastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin (FRA/BEL, Dacia) and Lucas Moraes/Armand Monleon (BRA/ESP, Toyota) – were separated by just a few seconds, each taking high risks, Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk remained rather cautious. The unique characteristics of the dune passages in the United Arab Emirates are traditionally not among Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk’s favorite terrains. In addition, the danger of an early end lurks behind every dune crest and its steeply sloping descent. The Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo had arrived with the aim of defending their lead in the FIA Cross Country Rally World Championship (W2RC) and scoring valuable points.
The “Dakar” winners therefore acted prudently right from the start, losing only a few minutes on each of the first three rally days, which added up to 15:08 at the end of the third day. Overall, Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk improved from 14th after the first to eighth place after the third leg. The arrival at the finish after the third stage is a special feature. A so-called marathon stage also increases the difficulty of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Therefore, service by the mechanics is not permitted in the evening – only by the participants themselves. Accordingly, the Overdrive team’s Toyota Hilux had to be spared as much as possible.
QUOTES
“There is a fine line between too much and too little risk here in Abu Dhabi. We have improved compared to last year, but we are still struggling to find a high but safe pace. Our goal is to score as many points as possible – that’s still possible.”
YAZEED AL-RAJHI
“We lost some time at the start of the rally with electronics problems, but then we got into it better. Abu Dhabi doesn’t really suit us, especially because it’s so difficult to judge the right pace on the steep drops behind the dune crests. We will now try to collect additional points for the daily classification on the remaining two days.”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK