Written by Jackson Lambros, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
With just three days remaining in the 2025 edition of The Dakar Rally, longtime Leader Hank Latigan finally lost his lead after holding the front of the field for nearly a week. On two wheels, KTM’s Daniel Sanders continues to hold the lead, but sits just 15 minutes clear of the competition.
T1 Ultimate: Battle to the finish forecasted with Al Rahji, Lategan.
South African racer Henk Lategan has held the lead overall since stage two, but a road-book error yesterday put him just 21 seconds ahead of fellow Toyota driver Yazeed Al Rajhi. An equally rough ninth stage puts hometown hero Al Rajhi 7’09” ahead.
“It’s a bit of a disaster, to be honest, it was really a mess,” Lategan reported at the Bivouac. “We thought we missed the way point but we actually had it.
“It wasn’t great and when we got lost we got one puncture, and then towards the end we got another one and the wheel is actually flat. So, it was a messy, messy, messy day for us but it’s not the end of the world, we’re still in.
It will be a dog fight between Lategan and Al Rajhi to the finish, but don’t count out Mattias Ekström. The long-tenured Audi driver has hit his strides quickly with Ford, holding 3rd ranking overall since stage three.
A win in stage five and constantly staying in the top 10 has closed the gap to the top two Toyotas to just under 25 minutes.
Guerlain Chicherit was another contender, bringing the fight to Lategan early into the rally. Even without a stage win, he was second overall at numerous stages.
His hopes of a high finish ended at Stage 6, as he’d lose control just 16 kilometres into the special, rolling numerous times.
While unscathed, neck pains for Chicherit were concerning enough for co-driver Alexandre Winocq to call for a medevac. It’s his fifth failure to finish in the Frenchman’s fourteen starts.
Bikes: Rally GP running thin, Rookies thrive
Fighting for a podium finish, Branch would crash out on stage six. The Botswanian was airlifted to Ha’il and checked out with no major injuries.
“Unfortunately, this is a part of the sport, and today it happened to me,” Branch said back at the Bivouac. “I’m thankful to be in one piece and will focus on recovering and getting fit for the next race.”
It was a far more rough rally for Quintanilla. The Chilean couldn’t crack a result better than 7th until stage seven. The following day would prove catastrophic though, as he’d retire 130 kilometres into the eighth.
“I was on a high speed piste which had many intersections and one of them had a really high edge,” Quintanilla recalled.
I was pushing and saw it all at the last minute so I couldn’t avoid it. I hit it very very fast and that’s the last thing that I remember. When I woke up, Adrien (Van Beveren) was there helping me.”
Not just stablemate Van Bevern, but KTM pilot Lucian Benavides would stop to help Quintanilla, with both riders on the scene for 30 minutes, calling in the medical helicopter. Aside from a concussion, Pablo suffers no major injuries and is already back with Honda at the Bivouac, but out of the race.
There was a heavy fear that Tosha Scharenia would suffer the same fate in stage nine, the Spaniard taking a major spill trying to hunt down leader Daniel Sanders.
He’d quickly remounted his Honda, but couldn’t find the same pace for the remainder of the stage, still around 15 minutes back from Sanders.
With just nine remaining in Rally GP, the Rally 2 cast has had an opportunity to Flourish, with young guns Edgar Canet and Tobias Ebster eighth and ninth overall. It remains Canet’s to lose in class, just over 38 minutes ahead of Ebster.
End of an Era: Yamaha’s Maio out
It’s crucial to also note Antonio Maio, who retired with mechanical problems in stage six. Air dropped supplies and a long wait for a pickup meant 16 long hours before the Portuguese made it back to the bivouac.
But it’s more than the pain of retiring, as Maio’s retirement marks the end of Yamaha’s long history in the Dakar.
The Japanese marquee has been a staple of the race since day zero. Theirry Sabine conceived the concept of the rally onboard his Yamaha in the Abidjan-Nice Rally.
Cyril Nevau would win the race’s first edition of the race in 1979. But with support pulled from Yamaha’s factory in 2022, Maio was all that remained.
“Last year, I could still rely on the Drag’on team for parts in the bivouac, but this time, I could only count on myself,” Maio said.
Keeping the brand alive for his sponsors back in Portugal, he’s purchased as many bikes and parts from the factory team as possible…a supply that has now sadly run dry.
“There are no other parts in circulation. I made a Big investment to be here on a Yamaha for this Dakar, it was very difficult.”
So, for the first time in 47 years, a Yamaha won’t be present at the end of the Dakar. A sting for fans of the manufacturer worldwide, and certainly for Maio. “I’ve been racing on a Yamaha for 22 years and done my six Dakar starts on a Yamaha,” he said.
“My dream of competing here was born watching Yamahas win. I know we won’t be seeing Yamahas at the Dakar any more”.
It’s been a mostly silent second half for the remaining Classes, as all three leaders at halfway have remained in front. Nicholas Cavigliasso remains the top dog in the T3 Challengers.
In SSV, Francisco Lopez Contardo has turned on the jets late in the game. Even with four stage wins in this rally, ‘Chaleco’ still might not have the pace to catch the steady running Brock Heger who’s over two hours up, but can certainly rival Xavier De Soultrait of Second, about 20 minutes ahead.
Martin Macik continues his magical campaign in trucks, now nearly two and a half hours up on the competition.
It will certainly remain a battle for the remainder of the podium, however, with Ales Loprais just minutes behind Mitchel Van Den Brink in second.
With a week and a half down, just three stages and 533 kilometres of racing remain until the champions are crowned.
The field departs from Haradh for Shubaytah oil fields Wednesday, where a duo of looping routes will close out the 47th edition of the world’s largest rally.
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