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Jackpot at the Grande Casino – Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk within shouting distance of the “Dakar” lead

12. January 2025

Further contributions

“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...

  • 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

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