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...
Really strong to second place – Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk on the podium at the Sonora Rally
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...
- Thanks to two stage wins and second place overall: Yazeed Al-Rajhi makes a big leap in the Cross Country Rally World Championship standings: second place
- Whether it’s speed test or a cactus slalom: a brilliant driving and navigational performance on unfamiliar terrain
- The third of five World Championship rounds leads through the north of Mexico, through endless cactus fields, desert sections and over sandy tracks
San Luis Río Colorado (April 29, 2023) – Strong performance, excellent points haul: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk celebrated second place overall at the Sonora Rally and thus their second podium result in a row. As a result, Yazeed Al-Rajhi has made a huge leap in the overall standings of the FIA World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC), in which he is now 30 points behind leader Nasser Al-Attiyah in second place. Also thanks to two stage wins and two second places on the five stages of the Sonora Rally – for which 5 and 4 points are awarded respectively. The extremely strong second place in the final standings of the northern Mexican rally follows the victory in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in March.
New terrain, new character
Tricky tasks were also on the agenda at the Sonora Rally – albeit different in character to the first two rounds on the Arabian Peninsula. In addition to fast sandy tracks, regularly interrupted by slalom passages between numerous large cacti, the northwest of Mexico also offered dune passages and fesh-fesh. On ranch land, around Hermosillo, there were detours in the direction of the Gulf of Cortez, to Puerto Peñasco, to the border of the US state of Arizona and finally to San Luis Río Colorado. The El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve has had a particular impact on the landscape.
Twice one, twice two, once … disillusionment
Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk made a strong start to the Sonora Rally right at the beginning of the rally. They finished the first stage in a top position in second place behind Sébastien Loeb. On the second day, however, a broken brake pipe slowed them down, the effects of which meant a total loss of nine minutes. This was followed by stage wins on the third and the final fifth stage, as well as second place on the penultimate leg of the rally. Am. In the end, the Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo were only beaten by the WRC leaders Nasser Al-Attiyah/Matthieu Baumel (QAT/FRA), who, like Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk, were driving a Toyota Hilux. And that with a gap of just 6.22 minutes.
QUOTES
“A great result, a great rally. We are mega-satisfied with second place, because I also climbed to second in the championship. Timo, who did his usual good job, was once again a guarantee for success. We are now looking forward to the next two rounds of the world championship and are excited to see what they will bring for us.”
YAZEED AL-RAJHI
“An exciting, enjoyable and successful rally. The terrain was new territory for most of the participants, it wasn’t always easy, even more strenuous than expected. We had a lot of fun on some great stages. Of course, we also had some bad luck with the car, but we fought every day anew. We are very happy with second place.”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK