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...
Two in a hurry – Queen’s stage of the “Dakar” clearly goes to Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk
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...
- Stage victory on Epiphany: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk win 48-hour stage of the Dakar Rally
- Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo take second place in the overall standings
- Extreme driving and navigational challenges on 967-kilometer special stage
Bisha, Saudi Arabia (January 6, 2025) – Back with a bang: Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk have fought their way back into the leading group with an impressive stage win at the 2025 Dakar Rally. On the 48-hour stage with a 967-kilometre special stage around Bisha, the Saudi Arabian-Brandenburg duo secured victory after just under eleven hours of pure driving time – just ahead of their long-term rivals Nasser Al-Attiyah and Edouard Boulanger (QAT/FRA, Dacia). In the overall standings, they are now 2:45 minutes behind their Toyota team-mates Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings (RSA/RSA) in second place. Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk had started the queen stage of the first “Dakar” week more than 13 minutes behind and in 22nd place. They took the lead right at the start of the demanding special stage and fought an intense duel with Al-Attiyah/Boulanger. Starting from 19th on the grid, Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk were even the first vehicle to cross the finish line and took over the challenging lead for long stretches of the second part of the 48-hour stage. The two-day special stage was only interrupted by a night-time break – including an overnight stay in a tent and away from the public eye. With just under a fifth of the total stage kilometers, dune crossings played a decisive role on the 48-hour stage. In total, around half of the route was completed on sandy ground. The stage began with rocky sections and winding, rather slow paths, followed by fast sandy tracks with challenging navigation. Large parts of the stage alternated between dunes and fast off-road passages. The second day of the 48-hour stage started with very fast tracks that led into a 15-kilometer-wide dune corridor with white sand mountains, before sandy wadis formed the conclusion.
QUOTES
“David Castera really picked out something: This stage was extremely tough. We had a good pace right from the start, including the small ups and downs. We are super happy to be at the finish and to have won the stage. It was really tough!”
YAZEED AL-RAJHI
“We did really well on this stage. I already feel like I’m in my second ‘Dakar’ week. Tonight we did a lot of work because we had an oil leak and the belt had come off one of the alternators. That took a while. But we got the car back in top shape for today. We really battled throughout the entire stage and are happy about the short break this afternoon.”
TIMO GOTTSCHALK