Dakar 2025 – Stage 12: Yazeed-Al Rajhi takes the crown!

Here it is, it’s over. The curtain has fallen on Dakar 2025 and a new winner has been added to the list of a competition whose first edition was held in 1979. Behind the wheel of his Toyota Hilux from the Belgian team Overdrive Racing, Yazeed Al Rajhi became at 43 the 23rd winner in the history of Dakar.

During the two weeks of the race, the Saudi was consistent, demonstrated patience to recover the first place in the general classification during the penultimate stage, and was able to rely on the experience of his co-driver Timo Gottschalk. Already a winner in 2011 with Nasser Al-Attiyah, the German made no navigation errors, where others got their wheels stuck in the dunes.

Al Rajhi competed in his first Dakar in 2015, already with Toyota. Winner of a stage during this first participation, the Saudi then started the world’s largest rally-raid driving a Mini, before returning to Toyota, with his best result being a third place in 2022. He is now at the top of the rally-raid and mingles with legends such as Stéphane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz, Pierre Lartigue, and Ari Vatanen.

Stage-wise, it was Lucas Moraes who clocked the best time ahead of Al-Attiyah and Henk Lategan. The latter, who was leading the overall standings for a long time, struggled in the ocean of dunes in the Empty Quarter. Meanwhile, Al-Attiyah finished in fourth place overall with very important data to analyze for Dacia in anticipation of the 2026 edition. Finally, Mattias Ekström managed to place the new Ford Raptor on the third step of the podium.

Stage 12 Ranking

General classification