W2RC – Al-Rajhi earns maiden Dakar win on home ground, co-driver Gottschalk claims 2nd victory

Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi made historical past by turning into the primary Saudi Arabian driver to win the Dakar Rally. 

The Toyota Hilux driver solely gained one stage however he led after the ninth day for the primary time after which moved forward on the penultimate stage to clinch a slim 3min 57sec victory and the early lead within the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). 

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings led from the second stage to the eighth after which hit the entrance once more after the tenth stage. However the South African couldn’t stop Al-Rajhi incomes the most important win of his profession and the Saudi’s co-driver Timo Gottschalk from securing a second victory after a 14-year wait following his success with Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah in South America in 2011.

Lategan led the race for a complete of eight days however simply fell brief after an excellent drive. A delighted Overdrive Racing’s crew principal Jean-Marc Fortin mentioned: “What to say? Two and three years in the past, one and three, final yr second, and this yr, one and two. I’m so completely happy. It’s a dream of life that you’re profitable Dakar. However this one was one other take a look at and Overdrive has gained the Dakar. It’s unbelievable. We’re main the Drivers’ and Producers’ Championships. It’s a stupendous day.”

The Japanese producer managed the race from the beginning. The crew gained the Prologue and eight of the 12 levels to seal a fourth Dakar success after earlier wins in 2019, 2022 and 2023.

The Ford M-Sport Crew picked up a podium end and two stage wins after a profitable two weeks for the brand new Ford Raptor. The Swedish pairing of Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist topped the occasions on stage 11 on their approach to third place, whereas team-mates Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch completed fifth. Joan Roma gained a stage within the third Raptor however was out of rivalry after a first-week engine block stage and ongoing delays, whereas the defending champion Carlos Sainz retired earlier than the remainder day with accident harm to his automobile.

Sandwiched between the 2 Fords in fourth place was the five-time winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and his French navigator Edouard Boulanger on the primary Dakar look of the brand new Dacia Sandrider. The Qatari was in rivalry for a prime end result all through the 2 weeks however a pricey navigational error and niggling little delays proved costly and he missed out on a podium end.

Dacia team-mate Sébastien Loeb was disqualified through the first week after a crash had broken the roll cage and Cristina Gutiérrez performed a supporting function to the Qatari within the third automobile after her personal delays and subsequent time penalties through the first week. 

The French pairing of Mattieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier achieved a career-best sixth-place end of their Century CR7 and have been properly away from Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras, who guided the second of the Overdrive Racing Toyotas to seventh. 

A spirited second-week efficiency from the present FIA World and European Baja Cup champions, João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro, lifted the Portuguese duo from eleventh to eighth within the lead diesel-engined X-raid Mini JCW Rally, regardless of punctures. Their trigger was helped by niggling delays and time misplaced within the sand for the ninth-placed Toyota Gazoo Racing duo of Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz. The 22-year-old American led the occasion after stage one and picked up a second stage win earlier than the remainder day.

Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer topped a profitable two weeks for the Century Racing Manufacturing unit Crew by rounding off the highest 10, however they weren’t registered for the W2RC. The Czech Ford F-150 crew of Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytka fended off a problem from Overdrive Racing’s Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena to seize eleventh.

The second week was a disappointing one for Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleón. They’d been in rivalry for the rostrum till they misplaced over two and a half hours with technical points on stage six and have been additionally penalised an hour for a ‘cell phone infringement. Moraes completed fifteenth however had the comfort of profitable levels seven and 12. 

Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq began the second half of the occasion from tenth of their petrol-engined X-Raid MINI JCW Rally, however the Frenchman rolled after simply 16km of the sixth stage, complained of neck ache and opted to be airlifted again to Ha’il for medical checks. His 14th Dakar ended with a fifth withdrawal. 

Guillaume de Mévius and final yr’s profitable navigator Mattieu Baumel suffered transmission woes and several other minor time delays and completed twenty second, one place behind their X-Raid team-mates, Lionel and Lucie Baud. 

Toyota’s Saood Variawa dropped out of rivalry after hefty time losses however entered the historical past books, at simply 19-years-old, for turning into the youngest ever winner of a stage (SS3) within the Final class.

Cavigliasso and Pertegarini romp to Challenger class victory

Argentina’s Nicolás Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini held a lead of just below half-hour after the primary week and held on to safe a memorable victory within the Challenger class of their Taurus T3 Max. 

The husband and spouse gained three levels through the first week however managed to complete 1hr 11min 38sec forward of Portugal’s Gonçalo Guerreiro and Brazil’s Cadu Sachs after a number of of their rivals hit bother through the course of a demanding second week of racing in southern Saudi Arabia. Cavigliasso had gained the quad class again in 2019.

Younger Spaniard Pau Navarro grew to become embroiled in an enchanting tussle with Qatar’s Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari through the second week and he and co-driver Lisandro Herrera took full benefit of late technical issues for the Crimson Bull Off-Street Junior Crew USA by BFG’s Corbin Leaverton and Dutchman Paul Spierings (engine) to complete third total and declare a stage win. Al-Kuwari and his brother Nasser secured fourth, regardless of a 30-minute time penalty, with Poland’s Adam Kus and his navigator Dmytro Tsyro rounding off an all-Taurus prime 5. 

Final yr’s W2RC SSV champion Yasir Seaidan suffered hefty time losses early within the occasion after steering points however had the comfort of three stage wins, whereas Dania Akeel additionally fell out of rivalry with a damaged suspension wishbone and a fistful of time penalties on stage six however grew to become the primary Saudi lady to win a stage on the Dakar in her Taurus T3 Max. David Zille and Leaverton additionally gained a stage apiece. 

Behind Kus, Khalifa Al-Attiyah, Mario Franco, Puck Klaassen, Leaverton, Seaidan and Akeel rounded off the W2RC entrants.

America’s Heger/Eddy win the SSV part: Portugal’s Pinto/Oliveira end as prime W2RC-registered crew in third

The Sebastien Loeb Racing-RXR Manufacturing unit Racing duo of Brock Heger and Max Eddy dominated the SSV class from the fourth stage to the end to safe a cushty win by the margin of 2hr 06min 04sec.

As soon as their team-mates and early rally leaders, Xavier de Soultrait and Martin Bonnet, had incurred a one-hour time penalty and suffered front-end meeting and resultant transmission issues, debutant Heger was in a position to cruise to the end to earn the win in a Polaris RZR Professional R Sports activities to observe up De Soultrait’s success for the model in 2024.

Heger, 25, gained the Prologue and stage two. The American mentioned: “As we speak’s my birthday, so I figured I wanted to deal with myself to a superb birthday current. We’re the Dakar champions and it’s fairly loopy to consider it. It hasn’t sunk in but. It’s a reasonably cool accomplishment after a loopy two weeks. We have been just about close to the rostrum on daily basis. It’s one thing I’ll always remember.” 

The Can-Am Manufacturing unit Crew’s Francisco Lopez and Juan Pablo Latrach have been the quickest crew for giant elements of the race within the new Maverick R however misplaced quite a lot of time through the early levels. The Chilean gained 5 of the 12 specials and climbed to second place after De Soultrait’s points.

The Portuguese pairing of Alexandre Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira have been the main W2RC-registered crew on the underside step of the rostrum of their Outdated Pals Rally Crew Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR. MMP’s Jérôme de Sadeleer and Diego Gil completed fourth. 

Enrico Gaspari and Fausto Mota have been fifth and picked up W2RC factors for being the second registered crew to complete with the Dutch duo of Roger Grouwels and Rudolf Meijer coming house third in W2RC.

After a disappointing begin, the Can-Am Manufacturing unit Crew delivered some spectacular stage performances. Jeremias Ferioli gained the seventh and eighth levels and Sara Value prevailed on the fourth and eleventh and twelfth days to present the Canadian producer 10 successive stage wins.

The South Racing Can-Am Crew’s Fernando Alvarez was compelled to retire with sciatica earlier than the restart after the remainder day in Ha’il.

Behind, Grouwels, Claude Fournier, Michele Cinotto, Value and Manuel Andujar have been W2RC-registered drivers on the end in Shubaytah.