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.
Jackpot at the Grande Casino – Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk within shouting distance of the “Dakar” lead
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...
- 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 impassable canyons and small dune belts
Dawadimi, Saudi Arabia (January 12, 2025) – Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk are in contention for the overall lead of the 2025 Dakar Rally. At the end of the seventh stage, they are just 21 seconds behind the leaders Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings (RSA/RSA), who, like Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk, are driving a Toyota Hilux. In cross-country rallying, that’s a tiny margin. To illustrate: after 3,603 completed stage kilometers, this corresponds to just 564 meters and 70 centimeters. A curious stage route kept drivers, co-drivers and observers in suspense. An incorrectly marked route in the road book meant that all the top teams got lost early on and had to try out several canyons by lottery – including chaos in the dust. However, the rally organizers subsequently removed this segment from the classification. The big winners included all of the chasing teams in the overall standings. Navigators in demand: The seventh special stage of the Dakar Rally 2025 was held on a loop south of Dawadimi. Two different routes were planned for the participants in the motorcycle and car classifications. Right from the start, a network of paths and fast tracks over stony terrain demanded maximum concentration. Again and again, rough terrain in canyons characterized the event, broken up by fast off-road passages and smaller dune crossings. For logistical reasons, the special stage was shortened from the original 481 to 419 kilometers.
QUOTES
“A stage with lots of stones, really big, really sharp ones. We got a puncture. But there were also dunes that were really nice to drive. All in all, a tough stage!”
YAZEED AL-RAJHI
“Something was wrong with the road book at kilometer 180 – we ended up criss-crossing the canyons and almost ran each other over in the dust. In the end, we randomly chose a direction – and bang, it was right. It was a tough fight all the way to the finish and nobody knew where they stood.”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK