MEDIA INFORMATION                               

47th Dakar Rally

January 3rd-17th, 2025 

2025 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), round 1

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING LEADS THE 47TH DAKAR RALLY AS OVERDRIVE RACING CREWS REMAIN WELL-PLACED FOR SECOND-WEEK CHALLENGE

  • Toyotas win the Prologue and all five of the opening special stages
  • Overdrive Racing’s Al-Rajhi and Yacopini in second and eighth overall

HA’IL (SAUDI ARABIA) – Thursday, January 9: Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings forged into a lead of 10min 17sec after five punishing desert stages at the end of the first week of the 47th Dakar Rally in Ha’il on Thursday evening.

Lategan 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.”

After what has been a remarkably productive week for Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) and Overdrive Racing, Saudi Arabian driver 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 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, we are capable of doing very well.”

Toyotas won the Prologue and the opening five stages of the opening round of the 2025 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) and Brazilian Lucas Moraes and Spaniard Armand Monleón have made their way into fifth place at the rest day.

Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dani Oliveras guided the second of the Overdrive Racing cars to eighth, while stage one leaders Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz were classified in ninth with two stage wins under their belt after an impressive week that was blighted by flat tyres on stage four.

Quintero said: “After having a rough day on stage four, it was great to get another stage win. It has been a Toyota clean sweep for the first week to go out and win every stage. It has been an amazing adventure and I’ve won two out of the five. I just want to keep it smooth for the second week.”

Lithuania’s Rokas Baciuška and his Spanish navigator Oriol Mena were fastest overall on the prestigious 48-hour Chrono stage but brake and suspension woes subsequently cost them time and they reached the event’s halfway point in 18th place.

Estonian Urvo Männama and navigator Risto Lepik enjoyed a solid start to their Dakar campaign with Overdrive Racing and reached Ha’il in 12th, while the Brazilian duo of Marcos Moraes and Maykel Justo were classified in 26th.

Australia’s Toby Price and Briton Sam Sunderland were running inside the top six for large parts of the first week on their Dakar debut in the Ultimate class with Overdrive Racing. A series of punctures and technical issues on day four proved costly for the former two-time Dakar motorcycle class winners and they slipped back to 37th.

Overdrive Racing also provided service and logistical support for Spaniard Isidre Esteve Pujol and navigator José-Maria Villalobos in their Repsol Toyota Rally Team car and a pair of Japanese Toyota crews. Esteve Pujol lost a chunk of time on stage two and was down in 39th.

Overdrive Racing’s team principal Jean-Marc Fortin said: “It has been a very demanding week. This is what we expected when we saw the itinerary for this Dakar. One 48-hour stage, plus one Marathon, was very difficult. We are all tired but we are tired for good reason. Five stage wins, plus the Prologue. I never expected this. Everybody in the team was really focused. Now we have to rest before the start of the second week with dunes and a very difficult itinerary. We will try our best.”

Quintero made the perfect start and claimed victory on the opening 413km Bisha loop stage but Baciuška dropped 2hr 20min with rear suspension and brake issues. On the eve of the 48-hour Chrono stage, TGR’s Saood Variawa held third, Moraes slowed purposely and held seventh to avoid running first on the road, Price was 12th, Al-Rajhi was 22nd, Lategan was 24th and Männama and Moraes Senior were 28th and 29th.

The first part of the gruelling 48hr Chrono stage featured several overnight base camps with the clock stopping at 17.00hrs (local time) for the opening day’s action. Crews then headed to the nearest available overnight bivouac before completing the mammoth 967km stage on day two.

Quintero was handed unwanted stage-opening duties but it was a strong first day for Toyota with Al-Rajhi moving into a virtual 1min 19sec overall lead and Lategan, TGR’s Guy Botterill and Price holding third, fifth and sixth overall before the start of part two on January 6th.

Despite a two-minute penalty for a minor speeding infringement, Al-Rajhi held on to claim the stage win from Lategan by 4min 16sec, although the South African moved into a 4min 45sec overall rally lead. Price, Moraes and Yacopini held fourth, seventh and 10th overall but Isidre Esteve Pujol stopped with technical issues after 713km.

Price said: “It was a good stage for sure…As rookies, me and Sam, we don’t really have an idea of what we’re doing. It was a lot more difficult than what we were thinking…. When you get into that dust, you can’t see all those more or less visible tracks and things like this. We had one little bit of an issue before the section of sand dunes. We were searching for a way point there for a little bit.”

Al-Rajhi’s stage win was short-lived, however: Baciuška had been docked time in the fuel spill zone the previous day and that was later returned by event officials, enabling the Toyota driver to become the first Estonian ever to win a Dakar stage.

Overdrive Racing’s managing director Jean-Marc Fortin said: “We’ve done 48 hours. We knew it would be a challenge, a tough stage, dunes, dust and stony. We all came back without problems. It’s something that I am proud of. We have a strong car that is improving from a long time and the speed is still there. It’s a very good start for us.”

After several days in Bisha, the third stage of 495km was reduced to 327km because of recent thunderstorms and flooding in the area but still headed north to Al-Henakiyah.

The stage win was fought out between Variawa, Moraes and Quintero with the former, at just 19-years-old, becoming the youngest ever winner of a stage in the Ultimate category. Both Lategan and Al-Rajhi dropped vital minutes, although the South African maintained his outright lead with the Saudi slipping to fourth. Moraes, Price, Quintero, Yacopini and Männama held fifth, sixth, 10th, 11th and 13th overall.

Stage four was the first part of the two-day Marathon section and ran for 415km between Al-Henakiyah and Al-Ula. Lategan and Al-Rajhi made strong starts and the Saudi duly claimed his first stage win of the campaign with a margin of 4min 51sec over Lategan with Toyota team-mate Yacopini coming home in third. Punctures blighted many crews on the jagged rocky surfaces.

Another superb day for Toyota saw the crews holding first, second, fifth, eighth and 10th in the general classification. But the only blot in the copybook was multiple punctures and technical issues for Price that forced the sixth-placed Australian to wait for his assistance crew before plummeting down the rankings with the loss of five and a half hours. There was no service assistance in Al-Ula with the Toyota mechanics heading straight to Ha’il to prepare for the rest day.

The fifth stage headed from Al-Ula to Ha’il in the north-central region of Saudi Arabia and competitors tackled a stage of 427.97km with a short liaison. Quintero recovered from his puncture delays to set the fastest time after Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah was awarded a 10-minute penalty. Lategan ensured he led at the rest day with fourth place. Al-Rajhi and Moraes were fifth and sixth.

Action resumes with the sixth stage of 606km between Ha’il and Ad-Duwadimi and a 481km loop through the deserts around Ad-Duwadimi on Saturday and Sunday.

The route then heads to the Saudi capital of 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 demanding dunes in the vast sandy Empty Quarter.

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

2025 Dakar Rally – Positions at the Rest Day after SS5 (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 31min 05sec
  4. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Edouard Boulanger (FRA) Dacia Sandrider 28hr 45min 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

Ends

For further information:

Jean-Marc Fortin (E-mail: jmf@overdriveracing.be), Overdrive S.A., rue de L’Enterprise 1, 4530 Villers-le-Bouillet, Belgium, Tel: + 32 475 762 391. www.overdriveracing.be, Facebook: Overdrive Racing, Twitter: @OverdriveToyota

 

 

 

Published On: 9 January 2025