After one of the most physically and mentally demanding ever starts to the Dakar Rally, Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings have forged into a 10min 17sec lead after five desert stages in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The event is the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC).

The Prologue winners hit the front on the gruelling two-day second 48-hour Chrono stage of 967km and managed their pace for the following three days, as last year’s winner Carlos Sainz crashed his Ford Raptor out of contention and nine-time WRC winner Sébastien Loeb was disqualified with roll cage damage to his Dacia Sandrider.

Lategan’s performance is all the more impressive, bearing in mind he missed part of last season, including the 2024 Dakar, with a shoulder injury. The South African said: “We had to open the fifth stage for the second half when he overtook Yazeed (Al-Rajhi). It was a high pace and it was easy to make mistakes and lose time. I’m happy with the whole week, even if starting first the day after the rest day wasn’t part of the plan.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing and Overdrive Racing won the Prologue and the opening five stages and the Japanese manufacturer has five cars in the top 10 at the rest day in Ha’il. Yazeed Al-Rajhi and his German navigator Timo Gottschalk hold a solid second place after consistent performances on each of the stages, capped by the fastest time in their Toyota Hilux on stage four.

The Saudi said: “It was my hardest first week of my career on the Dakar. All the stages were long, tough and difficult everywhere. Last year, I was leading the race until the day before the rest day when the car rolled with a suspension problem. Now, we are close to the lead. In the dunes (next week), we are capable of doing very well.”

One shining light after a disappointing first week for the Ford M-Sport Team is the third place held by the Swedish pairing of Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist in the first of three surviving Raptors.

Following Sainz’s retirement with roll cage damage after his crash, the Spanish duo of Joan Roma and Alex Haro have overcome an engine block change, massive time penalties and a collision with a fellow competitor to continue at the rear of the field. The American pairing of Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch hold sixth overall in their Raptor after stopping to help Sainz’s car back on to its wheels after his fateful accident in the dunes earlier in the week.

Five-time event winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah is Dacia’s only realistic hope of achieving victory on the team’s first attempt at the Dakar. Following’s Loeb accident and subsequent disqualification, Al-Attiyah and Edouard Boulanger were running inside the top three before slipping back to seventh after collecting a puncture and breaking a suspension arm on stage four.

After being deprived of a first ever stage win for Dacia by a 10-minute penalty after he had unofficially topped the times in stage five, the Qatari will start the second week in fourth overall.

Al-Attiyah said: “We stopped once for a puncture and then again because we broke a rear suspension arm. We had to wait for Cristina (Gutiérrez), who gave us hers and then we repaired it and got going again. My only option is to attack. It’s good to be back in the game. I will try to do my best. The Dakar is tough but the Dacia is robust. There are surprises each day. Next week, there will be many dunes, so we will see what will happen.”

Before his disqualification, Loeb said: “At the start of the special (where he crashed), I thought we were on the tracks but we were on the side. I hit a rut that turned us sideways and the car rolled. That took the tyres off two wheels, but we managed to sort it out within five minutes. There wasn’t so much damage but, after 50km, we broke a steering rod. It wasn’t a serious problem but our spare part was with the bits of bodywork that had been ripped off the car when we rolled!”

Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno have suffered their own fair share of problems in the third Dacia but were an invaluable assistance crew for both Loeb and Al-Attiyah during an action-packed first week.

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón have made their way into fifth place at the rest day after several consistent stage performances, while Frenchman Mattieu Serradori and his navigator Loic Minaudier have mixed it well with the established factory drivers to hold seventh in their Century Racing CR-7.

Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras guided the second of the Overdrive Racing Toyotas to eighth, ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz: they led outright after stage one before a series of flat tyres cost them dearly on the fourth stage to Al-Ula.  Quintero claimed a second stage win by just one second with the fastest time on SS5.

Despite GPS issues and a small fire early in the race, Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq were the highest-placed of the X-Raid MINI JCW Team crews in their petrol-engined machine in 10th, but the French duo are not registered for the W2RC. Current FIA World and European Baja Cup champion João Ferreira and his co-driver Filipe Palmeiro are 11th in their diesel-engined Mini after a fifth-stage puncture.

Flat tyres and technical issues plagued Guillaume de Mévius and last year’s winning navigator Mattieu Baumel. They hold 22nd. The Czech duo of Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytka are 14th in their Orlen Jipocar Team Ford F-150.

De Mévius said: “It was a tough first week with various challenges. We had multiple tyre punctures on stage four and we got lost on stage five. The first week was really intense, just as David (Castera) warned us. Things didn’t always go our way, but we’ll come back stronger in the second week. Our goal is to return to the top 10.”

Rokas Baciuška has graduated to the Ultimate category with Overdrive Racing after sealing both the Challenger and SSV titles in recent seasons. The Estonian and navigator Oriol Mena won the 48-hour Chrono stage but had stopped with rear brake and suspension issues on stage one and dropped over 2hr 20min. They have recovered to hold 18th.

Overdrive Racing is also running a Toyota for former Dakar motorcycle winners Toby Price and Sam Sunderland. They were holding a top six spot until a series of puncture-related problems cost them dearly on a rocky section into Al-Ula on stage four. They slipped back to 37th.

South African Saood Variawa is out of contention for the win after hefty time losses with technical issues but, at just 19-years-old, the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver becoming the youngest ever winner of a stage in the Ultimate category when he set the quickest time in SS3.

Cavigliasso and Pertegarini hold Challenger lead at halfway point

Argentina’s Nicolás Cavigliasso and his wife, the defending Challenger champion navigator Valentina Pertegarini, held a lead of 28min 34sec after five stages in the battle to become Dakar Challenger champions. They are classified 15th in the general classification.

The Taurus T3 Max crew produced a last-gasp push to pip Portugal’s Gonçalo Guerreiro to the opening stage win with Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA by BFG’s Corbin Leaverton moving into second and third. Last year’s W2RC SSV champion Yasir Seaidan suffered steering issues and incurred massive time penalties.

Cavigliasso was again quickest on the 48hr Chrono stage from Paul Spierings and Leaverton but he was handed a speeding time penalty and Spierings duly claimed the stage win. The fastest time on stage three strengthened Cavigliasso’s challenge and he led from Guerriero and Leaverton with Spierings, Dania Akeel and Pau Navarro trailing in his wake. Seaidan bounced back strongly with the third quickest time.

The Argentine extended his lead to 25min 14sec with the win on stage four, as Leaverton and Guerriero held second and third places.

Seaidan is now running under the Dakar Experience section after his earlier woes but earned the win on stage five. Leaverton stopped with technical issues 50km into the fifth stage on the run into Ha’il and his misfortune lifted Guerreiro into second overall and Spierings into third.

Consistent stage performances by Al-Kuwari and his brother Nasser have moved the QMMF Team crew into fourth place, ahead of Team BBR’s Akeel/Stéphane Duplé and Navarro/Lisandro Herrera. The Taurus brand holds the top six places in the general classification after five stages.

Last year’s Jordan Baja winner Khalid Al-Jafla (Taurus) retired after three stages and Argentina’s David Zille (Taurus) and Portugal’s Mario Franco (X-Raid YXZ 1000R) are running well down the Challenger leader board. The FIA World Cup Challenger champion Eduardo Pons was badly delayed on SS5.

America’s Heger/Eddy top SSV category: Portugal’s Pinto/Oliveira lead the W2RC-registered crews

Can-Ams dominated the entries for the highly-competitive SSV class but Polaris machines run by Sebastien Loeb Racing-RXR Factory Racing hold the early advantage after five stages.

The American duo of Brock Heger and his navigator Max Eddy have moved into a massive 1hr 18min 30sec lead over their team-mates Xavier de Soultrait and Martin Bonnet at the rest day. With neither crew registered for the W2RC in their Polaris RZR Pro R Sports, the Portuguese pairing of Alexandre Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira are the leading W2RC SSV crew in third place in their Old Friends Rally Team Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR.

The Can-Am Factory Team’s Francisco Lopez and Juan Pablo Latrach are fourth and MMP’s Jérôme de Sadeleer and Diego Gil are classified in fifth. The Dutch duo of Roger Grouwels and Rudolf Meijer are sixth and second of the registered W2RC crews in a category that has been decimated by five punishing special stages.

Heger won the Prologue and then De Soultrait topped the times on the opening Bisha loop stage to snatch the lead. Heger was again quickest on the 48hr Chrono stage but Lopez hit back to give the new Can-Am Maverick R a first stage win on SS3 with Pinto running as the leading W2RC-registered driver in third.  

After engine problems earlier in the week and resultant massive time penalties, the Can-Am Factory Team’s Sara Price and Sean Berriman bounced back strongly to win the fourth stage from Lopez, Heger and the South Racing Can-Am Team’s Fernando Alvarez.

On stage four, Heger retained a massive lead in the general classification after three punctures and a broken suspension rod hampered second-placed De Soultrait, while Pinto remained the leading registered driver in third.

Lopez was quickest in SS5 to claim a second stage win on his 14th Dakar but Price suffered ongoing technical issues. The South Racing Can-Am Team’s Diego Martinez was forced to withdraw on stage four.

The sixth stage of 606km runs between Ha’il and Ad-Duwadimi on Saturday before a special of 481km loops through the deserts around Ad-Duwadimi.

The Dakar caravan then heads to Riyadh and on to Haradh for a further two specials of 487km and 357km before arriving in Shubaytah on January 15th after a short run of 119km through the towering dunes in the vast sandy Empty Quarter.

A sting in the tail could well be the 11th 280km stage around Shubaytah on January 16th before the final Power Selective Section forms part of the 134km finale that brings the survivors to the finish celebrations in Shubaytah.

2025 Dakar Rally – positions at the Ha’il rest day (top 25 only - unofficial):

1. Henk Lategan (ZAF)/Brett Cummings (ZAF) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo                    28hr 10min 11sec  

2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU)/Timo Gottschalk (DEU) Toyota Hilux Overdrive            28hr 20min 28sec

3. Mattias Ekström (SWE)/Emil Bergkvist (SWE) Ford Raptor                                 28hr 21min 05sec

4. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Dacia Sandrider      28hr 35min 11sec  

5. Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Armand Monleón (ESP) Toyota GR DKR Hilux                                    28hr 52min 06sec

6. Mitch Guthrie (USA)/Kellon Walch (USA) Ford Raptor                                        28hr 52min 55sec

7. Mathieu Serradori (FRA)/Loic Minaudier (FRA) Century CR7                             28hr 56min 10sec

8. Juan Cruz Yacopini (ARG)/Daniel Oliveras (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive         29hr 13min 28sec

9. Seth Quintero (USA)/Dennis Zenz (DEU) Toyota GR DKR Hilux                          29hr 40min 21sec

10. Guerlain Chicherit (FRA)/Alex Winocq (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0i                    29hr 48min 56sec*

11. João Ferreira (PRT)/Filipe Palmeiro (PRT) Mini JCW Rally 3.0D                       30hr 02min 26sec

12. Urvo Männama (EST)/Risto Lepik (EST) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                      30hr 17min 22sec*

13. Brian Baragwanath (ZAF)/Leonard Cremer (ZAF) Century CR7                        30hr 19min 23sec*

14. Martin Prokop (CZE)/Viktor Chytka (CZE) Ford Raptor RS                                 30hr 35min 24sec

15. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG)/Valentina Pertegarini (ARG) Taurus T3 Max         30hr 38min 42sec

16. Gonçalo Guerreiro (PRT)/Cadu Sachs (BRA) Taurus T3 Max                             31hr 07min 16sec

17. Paul Spierings (NLD)/Jan Van Der Stelt (NLD) Taurus T3 Max                           31hr 12min 08sec*

18. Rokas Baciuška (LTU)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Toyota Hilux Overdrive                     31hr 38min 30sec

19. Giniel de Villiers (ZAF)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) Toyota Hilux IMT Evo          31hr 42min 28sec*

20. Brock Heger (USA)/Max Eddy (USA) Polaris RZR Pro R Sport                           31hr 51min 54sec*

21. Christian Lavieille (FRA)/Valentin Sarreaud (FRA) MD Optimus                       31hr 57min 48sec*

22. Guillaume de Mévius (BEL)/Mathieu Baumel (FRA) Mini JCW Rally 3.0i       32hr 00min 30sec

23. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)/Nasser Al-Kuwari (QAT) Taurus T3 Max               32hr 10min 17sec

24. Pascal Thomasse (FRA)/Arnold Brucy (FRA) MD Optimus                                 32hr 11min 06sec*

25. Dania Akeel (SAU)/Stéphane Duplé (FRA) Taurus T3 Max                                32hr 16min 41sec  

* denotes not W2RC registered

Rally leaders

SS1                                                                 Seth Quintero (Toyota)

SS2-5                                                             Henk Lategan (Toyota)

Stage winners

Prologue                                                       Henk Lategan (Toyota)

SS1                                                                 Seth Quintero (Toyota)                                                               

SS2                                                                 Rokas Baciuška (Toyota)

SS3                                                                 Saood Variawa (Toyota)

SS4                                                                 Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota)

SS5                                                                 Seth Quintero (Toyota)