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...
The desert is shaking! Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk win the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
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...
- Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo promptly victorious in their reunion
- Consistency makes the Kings: Well-dosed risk pays off in difficult desert rally
- 2014-2019 & 2023: 14 podium results for Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk
Abu Dhabi (March 03, 2023) – With driving nous and a foot to the floor: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk have won the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. The Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo celebrated their 14th joint podium result promptly after reuniting for this second round of the FIA World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC). Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk already contested 31 cross-country rallies together between 2014 and 2019. For Timo Gottschalk, it was the second major success in the still young motorsport year 2023. In January, he celebrated a surprising and sensational third place in the Dakar Rally together with Lucas Moraes (BRA). Gottschalk had stepped in for Yazeed Al-Rajhi’s regular co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz in Abu Dhabi, who had to take a break due to injury.
In 2023, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge once again offered everything for which it is known and sometimes feared: dunes, dunes, dunes, plus sand in all colors, shapes and flavors. Many broken dunes made the second W2RC run a tricky affair. One of the challenges was to dose the risk carefully. On the penultimate of the five rally days, Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk took over the lead from the big favorites Nasser Al-Attiyah/Matthieu Baumel (QAT/FRA, Toyota), who had to retire after a quadruple rollover and a Toyota Hilux that was too badly damaged as a result. Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk, on the other hand, brought their Hilux car back to Abu Dhabi safe and sound, having previously kept other co-favorites, including Sébastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin (FRA/BEL, Prodrive), at bay.
QUOTES
“We are extremely proud to have won the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, a desert classic so close to my home in Saudi Arabia. That means a lot to me. The collaboration with Timo worked perfectly from the very first minute. The rally was also worthwhile for me in terms of W2RC points and the championship has become a bit more open as a result.”
YAZEED AL-RAJHI
“A victory is always something special, a great feeling. I have taken part in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge several times and know how difficult this rally is. We are proud and happy to have won here. It’s a really difficult rally with lots of sand and dunes and lots of tricky hazards. It’s extremely challenging to judge the right pace. I think we drove a clever rally.”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK