Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk make the most of a muddy and tricky Rally Portugal in sixth place Points maximization beats attack mode: controlled risk for a catch-up start to the season Second round of the FIA World Cross Country Rally Championship (W2RC) season...
Podium in the Sierras Pampeanas – Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk finish Desafío Ruta 40 in third place overall
Further contributions
Scout score: 1, day rank: 16 – Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk with another top performance at the “Dakar”
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.
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...
- Third joint W2RC appearance, third podium: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk keep the W2RC battle open until the final with third place in Argentina
- Duo collects plenty of points, but top performance remains unrewarded overall due to tire damage
- Extremely tough rally, including the notorious Fiambala terrain: dunes, scree, gravel and lots of rough terrain
Salta, Argentina (September 1, 2023) – Podium: yes, dream result: no – Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk finished the Desafío Ruta 40 in third place. Although the Saudi-Arabian-Brandenburg duo scored plenty of points in the battle for the FIA Rally-Raid World Championship (W2RC) and thus achieved the minimum goal of securing a showdown at the finale in Morocco, it would have been enough for more. What was missing: the luck of the brave. On the first day, the first puncture shortly before the finish line prevented the team from winning the stage, and on the following stage four punctures with only two spares meant a serious loss of time. From then on, it was no longer about the battle for overall victory with the W2RC leaders Nasser Al-Attiyah/Matthieu Baumel (QAT/FRA, Toyota), who won the rally in the end, but about second place. On the final day, Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk made up considerable time on the duo ahead of them, Juan Cruz Yacopini/Dani Oliveras (ARG/ESP), right at the start, but then slid down a ditch while flying blind in their own dust. Remarkably, their direct opponent for second place, local hero Yacopini, helped to free the Toyota Hilux – demonstrating true sportsmanship and team spirit. Overall, Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk only grabbed the 20 points for third place, four additional points for three second places and another for a fifth place on the stages.
World Cup showdown, but only with a slide rule
After the fourth of five W2RC rounds, Yazeed Al-Rajhi has 139 points on his WRC account, Nasser Al-Attiyah 189. The 50-point deficit can still be made up at the grand finale in Morocco (October 12-18). 55 points are then still to be awarded. However, Nasser Al-Attiyah is allowed to take a maximum of four points in case Yazeed Al-Rajhi scores big.
Tough terrain, “Dakar” memories come back to life
The Desafío Ruta 40 turned out to be the expected tough opponent during the five days of the rally in northwest Argentina: in addition to fast tracks through Rio, the agenda also included rough terrain without any trails – an endurance test for man and material. The icing on the cake was the area around Fiambala, which had already provided long-lasting stories during the “Dakars” in the same region. Soft sand, soft dunes and many canyons characterized the picture on this stage.
QUOTES
“We achieved our minimum target and kept the W2RC title fight open until the end. However, we would have liked to have made up points on Nasser Al-Attiyah instead of conceding. So it will be an all-or-nothing final.”
YAZEED AL-RAJHI
“The Desafío Ruta 40, especially the area around Fiambala, brings back memories of the Dakar Rally when it was still held in South America. Really difficult terrain with soft sand and soft dunes. All in all, the pace was right for us, we just lacked a bit of luck to get more out of it. Now we want to really attack again in Morocco and see what we can do for Yazeed in the fight for the world championship.”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK