A punishing opening week of the 2025 Dakar Rally – featuring for the first time ever both the 48-hour Chrono and the Marathon Stage – has finally come to an end. Today an exhausted convoy of competitors were reunited with their support crews at the conclusion of a two-day Marathon Stage which prevented mechanical assistance. On arrival in the Hail bivouac there was just one thing on everybody’s mind… tomorrow’s Rest Day! With racing now taking a day off, let’s see how Stage 5 between AlUla and Hail transformed the leaderboards…
When the going gets tough, the tough get going and that’s exactly what five-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah did on Stage 5 of this Dakar. Yesterday, Al-Attiyah’s Dacia Sandrider lost significant time to race leader Henk Lategan so the Qatari hit the road today with his foot fully to the floor! Al-Attiyah was rapid over the sandy 428km between AlUla and Hail and reduced the gap between himself and Lategan to exactly 35 minutes. The result would have been even better for the Dacia driver had he not been hit with a 10-minute time penalty for leaving behind a flat tyre.
« Yesterday we lost a lot of time, but we came back strong today. Next week will be another tough week and I’ll do my best to stay in the fight. » – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Mattias Ekström holds third spot overall, one place ahead of Al-Attiyah in the general classification. Ekström has kept his Ford Raptor T1+ on a steady course during the first seven days of racing in Saudi Arabia. Now the Swede has identified room for improvement on the remaining seven stages.
« I would say this was by far my best day of driving at the rally so far. We passed one mountain on the wrong side so maybe a u-turn there cost us a couple of minutes. » – Mattias Ekström
Ekström is joined at business end of the Ultimate class rankings by Ford M-Sport team-mate Mitch Guthrie Jr. who is sixth overall. Toyota Gazoo Racing also have two drivers in the Top 10 with Lucas Moraes fifth and Seth Quintero holding ninth place. It was 22-year-old Quintero who came out with the win on Stage 5, making him the youngest ever driver at the Dakar with multiple stage wins in the Ultimate class.
« Yesterday we got three flats and lost over an hour, so today I thought let’s just go for it. All in all it was a really rough Marathon Stage for us, but day two ended up a lot better than day one. » – Seth Quintero
It’s been a week of ups and downs for all drivers at the Dakar, including Giniel de Villiers, Rokas Baciuška, Guillaume De Mévius and Cristina Gutiérrez. Gutiérrez has given herself the mission in the second week of the Dakar to do everything she can to help Dacia team-mate Al-Attiyah reach top spot.
« It’s now our key objective to do everything we can to help our team-mate Nasser. » – Cristina Gutiérrez
The fighting spirit of Toby Price and co-driver Sam Sunderland was on display on Stage 5. The former bike race winners suffered badly on the first part of the Marathon Stage due to punctures. However, the duo dusted themselves down and were back on the road to reach the Rest Day.
« Yesterday killed us but it is what it is. It’s disappointing to let everyone down who made this Dakar possible for us. From here on out the aim is to get good stage results and go from there. » – Toby Price
We’ve witnessed a number of high-profile Ultimate class withdrawals in the first week as the Dakar has shown its teeth. Defending champion Carlos Sainz plus Sébastien Loeb and Laia Sanz all wanted to continue after crashing, but FIA regulations stipulated that the roll cages of each of their cars had sustained too much damage.
Nani Roma, former Dakar winner of both the bike and car classes, came to a halt himself 173km into Stage 5. Roma’s Ford Raptor T1+ eventually got moving again after a delay of over three hours.
Daniel Sanders is riding his fifth Dakar Rally and has been leading the bike race since winning the Prologue. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider’s best result so far remains his fourth place finish in his rookie year in 2021. After four stage wins in the first week, the Australian is now aiming to nail down his first-ever Dakar victory in the rally’s second week.
« I had a lot of fun out there, opening the way for the first 250km. I was just focusing on my riding. I’m feeling good and not working too hard so that makes life easy. After five years of doing rallies the navigation is coming a lot easier for me. » – Daniel Sanders
Watch how Daniel Sanders survived 1,000km in the desert unsupported here
This year’s standout rookie in the bike race during the Dakar’s first week has been Sanders’s KTM team-mate Edgar Canet. The 19-year-old was a late addition to the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing line-up and is proving his worth to the team. The teenager leads the Rally2 class following three stage wins in his category and is in the Top 10 overall.
« It was a long stage with a mix of terrain, some sandy piste and some rocks. Some of the navigation points were difficult. We’re halfway through and I’m leading Rally2 so I’m happy with how things are going. » – Edgar Canet
Luciano and Kevin Benavides are also flying the flag for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. Luciano arrives to the Rest Day in seventh overall after winning Stage 5. Meanwhile, Kevin continues to ride through the pain barrier after a season dogged by injury.
« This has been a really tough week for everyone. For me it has been especially tough because it feels like I’m riding with just one arm and a half. I’m doing my best to enjoy each day we ride. » – Kevin Benavides
The first week retirements of bikers Harith Noah and Mohammed Balooshi underlined the risks involved in racing the Dakar Rally. We wish both bikers a speedy recovery from their injuries!
In the Challenger race Gonçalo Guerreiro moved a minute closer to the lead as the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team driver rose to second overall. The Portuguese rookie trails Challenger class leader Nicolas Cavigliasso by 28m34s at the rally’s midway point.
« It’s been such a difficult two days of Marathon Stage, I’m really happy it’s done. We pushed when we could. Now we’ll use the Rest Day to change some things on our setup. » – Gonçalo Guerreiro
Also in contention for a podium spot in the Challenger class heading into the Dakar’s second week are Saudi Arabia’s Dania Akeel and Spain’s Pau Navarro. This Taurus T3 Max driving pair are fifth and sixth respectively with seven Dakar stages remaining.
It was a tough day in the dunes for Corbin Leaverton of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team. The American racer lost over three hours on the perilous path between AlUla and Hail.
Meanwhile, there was another stage win to celebrate for Francisco López in the SSV contest. The Chilean has put misfortune on the 48-hour Chrono stage behind him to reach the Rest Day less than half an hour off the overall SSV podium.
« It’s been a tough first week. The 48-hour stage was especially tough for us. The Marathon Stage went much better and now we’re happy to be at the Rest Day. » – Francisco López
After a punishing first week at the Dakar Rally, the convoy gets a well-earned rest in Hail tonight and tomorrow. Nestled between Mount Shammer to the north and Mount Salma to the south, the city of Hail was once the capital of the Arabian Desert. A fitting location to take stock of of the rally’s first week and gear up for what’s still to come.
Selected Standings at Rest Day
ULTIMATE
1. Henk Lategan (ZAF) / Brett Cummings (ZAF) – Toyota 28:10:11
3. Mattias Ekström (SWE) / Emil Bergkvist (SWE) – Ford +20:54
4. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Edouard Boulanger (FRA) – Dacia +35:00
5. Lucas Moraes (BRA) / Armand Monleon (ESP) – Toyota +41:55
6. Mitch Guthrie Jr. (USA) / Kellon Walch (USA) – Ford +42:44
9. Seth Quintero (USA) / Dennis Zenz (DEU) – Toyota +01:30:10
15. Rokas Baciuška (LTU) / Oriol Mena (ESP) – Toyota +03:28:19
16. Giniel de Villiers (ZAF) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) – Toyota +03:32:17
18. Guillaume De Mévius (BEL) / Mathieu Baumel (FRA) – MINI +03:50:19
26: Toby Price (AUS) / Sam Sunderland (GBR) – Toyota +06:06:51
45. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP) / Pablo Moreno (ESP) – Dacia +37:34:39
48. Nani Roma (ESP) / Alex Haro (ESP) – Ford +65:04:34
CHALLENGER
1: Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG) / Valentina Pertegarini (ARG) – Taurus 30:38:42
2: Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR) / Cadu Sachs (BRA) – Taurus +28:34
5: Dania Akeel (SAU) / Stéphane Duplé (FRA) – Taurus +01:37:59
6: Pau Navarro (ESP) / Lisandro Sisterna (ARG) – Taurus +01:47:16
8. Corbin Leaverton (USA) / Taye Perry (DEU) – Taurus +04:14:56
SSV
1. Brock Heger (USA) / Max Eddy (USA) – Polaris 31:48:54
3. Francisco López (CHL) / Juan Pablo Latrach (CHL) – CAN-AM +02:01:59
BIKE
1. Daniel Sanders (AUS) – KTM 30:20:15
7. Luciano Benavides (ARG) – KTM +24:15
10. Edgar Canet (ESP) – KTM +01:01:44
26. Kevin Benavides (ARG) – KTM +03:10:56
QUOTES
Nasser Al-Attiyah: « Yesterday we lost a lot of time, but we came back strong today. Next week will be another tough week and I’ll do my best to stay in the fight. »
Mattias Ekström: « I would say this was by far my best day of driving at the rally so far. We passed one mountain on the wrong side so maybe a u-turn there cost us a couple of minutes. »
Lucas Moraes: « It was not a good stage for us. We got a puncture and then we got lost for about 15 minutes. It was a tough day at the office! But we’ve finished the Marathon Stage and now we’re ready for the Empty Quarter. »
Seth Quintero: « Yesterday we got three flats and lost over an hour so today I thought let’s just go for it. All in all it was a really rough Marathon Stage for us, but day two ended up a lot better than day one. »
Cristina Gutiérrez: « It’s now our key objective to do everything we can to help our team-mate Nasser. »
Guillaume De Mévius: « It’s been a tough week for us with a few different problems. We’ve had a mechanical issue, punctures yesterday and today we got lost. We’ll come back stronger next week! »
Rokas Baciuška: « It was another complicated day for us. We had to stop a couple of times to fix the car. I’m happy we could survive these two Marathon days and now we can look forward to next week’s stages. »
Giniel de Villiers: « Unfortunately for us in the Marathon Stage we didn’t have enough tyres. It meant we lost a lot of time and it wrapped up a very difficult first week. »
Toby Price: « Yesterday killed us but it is what it is. It’s disappointing to let everyone down who made this Dakar possible for us. From here on out the aim is to get good stage results and go from there. »
Daniel Sanders: « At 400km my roadbook stopped working again so it was lucky I was near the finish. I had to turn the tablet on and off five times for it to work again and validate the last waypoint. Other than that it was a good stage. I had a lot of fun out there, opening the way for the first 250km. I was just focusing on my riding. I made a few little mistakes in the fast areas so the guys behind caught up. I’m feeling good and not working too hard so that makes life easy. After five years of doing rallies the navigation is coming a lot easier for me. »
Edgar Canet: « It was a long stage with a mix of terrain, some sandy piste and some rocks. Some of the navigation points were difficult. We’re halfway through and I’m leading Rally2 so I’m happy with how things are going. »
Luciano Benavides: « I got past a lot of guys today and had a good rhythm throughout the day. What’s difficult is identifying the stages that you can really push on. I hope my strategy works better for me in the second week. »
Kevin Benavides: « This has been a really tough week for everyone. For me it has been especially tough because it feels like I’m riding with just one arm and a half. I’m doing my best to enjoy each day we ride. »
Gonçalo Guerreiro: « It’s been such a difficult two days of Marathon Stage, I’m really happy it’s done. We pushed when we could. Now we’ll use the Rest Day to change some things on our setup. »
Francisco López: « It’s been a tough first week. The 48-hour stage was especially tough for us. The Marathon Stage went much better for us and now we’re happy to be at the Rest Day. »