Dakar-2025: Yazeed al-Rajhi in a car and Daniel Sanders on a motorbike win without trembling

Après la dernière étape du Dakar à Shubaytah le Saoudien Yazeed al-Rajhi remporte cette édition 2025. DAKAR PRESS TEAM – Marie Hessel

At the end of the 12th and final stage of the Dakar, this Friday, January 17, 2025 in Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Daniel Sanders and Yazeed al-Rajhi won their first Dakar Rally.

Saudi Arabian Yazeed al-Rajhi (Overdrive) won his first Dakar rally-raid in the car category, at the end of the 12th and final stage on Friday in Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia. He beat South African Henk Lategan (Toyota) by just 3:57 and Sweden’s Mattias Ekström (Ford) by 20:21, subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA. This is the first victory for a Saudi on the Dakar, based in Saudi Arabia since 2020.

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” I will never forget this moment”.

Australian Daniel Sanders (KTM) won his first Dakar Rally at the end of the 12th and final stage Friday in Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia Arabia.

The 30-year-old rider, who took the 6th time in the last special, finished with a lead of 8 minutes 50 seconds in the general classification ahead of the Honda of the Spaniard Tosha Schareina. “It was a difficult race,” reacted the winner at the finish.“But it was really, really exhilarating to see the finish line once the (last, editor's note) dune was crossed. I saw the whole bivouac, I smiled and I had chills all over my body […], I will never forget that moment”.

The second Australian to win the Dakar on a motorbike after Toby Price (2016 and 2019), Sanders took the lead in the general classification from the first laps of this 47th edition of the famous rally-raid. Untouchable until the end in the Saudi desert, he notably has three victories in a row, including the prologue on January 3rd – an unprecedented series in the motorcycle category since the one achieved by the Spaniard Joan Barreda in 2017 between Bolivia and Argentina.

In addition to the prologue, the Australian won a total of four stages for his 5th participation in the Dakar. Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) finished third, as in 2024. “It's a third place, but it's very satisfying. Last year I finished third, but I think I was even better this year,” savored the 34-year-old from the North. “I came up against two very strong opponents”, he also acknowledged. American Ricky Brabec (Honda), winner of the 2024 edition on a motorbike, finished 5th.