The first Dakar of 2025 is over, and we have a winner, Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi has made history, not just for getting his first win, but also for being the first national of the country to score a first place in the Dakar podium. Al-Rajhi and his co-driver, Timo Gottschalk drove a Toyota Hilux from Overdrive Racing and managed to secure the title four minutes and twenty five seconds after the stage winner, Brazil’s Lucas Moraes, and his Spanish co-driver Armand Monleón.
This did not matter though, as his careful strategy and conservative approach paid off. He entered stage 12 with a six-minute lead over Henk Lategan, second place in the general leaderboard, that was cut to a still respectable 3 minutes and 57 seconds, making this title a greatly earned victory.
Of course the winner was not always so clear cut, as Lategan held the lead from the second to the ninth stage, but in a race such as this one where anything can happen Al-Rajhi was smart enough to know how to navigate the terrain on his homeland and managed to claw the victory form the South African driver.
This win has been a long time coming, after all this is Al-Rajhi’s 11th Dakar appearance, with his first race being in 2015. This is not the driver’s day job, in his regular life he is a 43-year-old real estate mogul, but he has always been a good candidate to rise to the top, winning his first stage in his first year driving, but a whole Dakar has always been slightly out of reach. Experts believe that this is because of his aggressive driving style, but the same things that held him back from earning a title sooner might be what got him this first win. He has been steadily rising through the ranks since then, managing to finish in fourth place in the 2020 Dakar (the first hosted in Saudi Arabia), third in 2022, and racking up stage wins in 2024 before finally claiming the big prize in 2025.
This edition of the race has been difficult for many drivers, as this type of race usually is, as there were break downs, like the one Carlos Sainz and Sébastien Loeb, suffered and which meant that they were forced to withdraw after severe damage to their cars’ roll cages. Others were able to keep competing but were taken out of the running for the podium, like Nani Roma, who also had extensive mechanical issues but was still able to score a stage win on stage 10, his first since 2015, proving that anything can happen in this competition.
Cristina Gutiérrez also managed an impressive race, managing to complete her first Dakar in the elite category with a new and untested Dacia. Although technical issues slowed her down, her teamwork with co-driver Pablo Moreno proved critical in helping teammates like Loeb navigate significant setbacks.
This is a tough competition. Drivers are not just up against each other and the clock, but against an unstoppable force, the desert which does not forgive any mistakes. The pieces of machinery they manage and repair on the fly and the ability to navigate the rough terrain are impressive, and they should all be commended for making this 2025 Dakar a gripping race full of entertainment and comradery.
The final 2025 Dakar leaderboard
1 | Yazeed Al Rahji | (SAU) | OVERDRIVE | 52h 52m 15s
2 | Henk Lategan | (RSA) | TOYOTA GAZOO | +00h 03m 57s
3 | Mattias Ekström | (SWE) | FORD M-SPORT | +00h 20m 21s
4 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | (QAT) | DACIA SANDRIDERS | +00h 23m 58s
5 | Mitch Guthrie Jr. | (USA) | FORD M-SPORT | +01h 02m 10s
