Home » Final stage goes to Moraes as Al Rajhi celebrates

Final stage goes to Moraes as Al Rajhi celebrates

Toyota dominated this year’s Dakar Rally, claiming eight stage wins and the prologue. Lucas Moraes took victory in the twelfth stage, his second stage win of the rally. Nasser Al-Attiyah finished second, 1.5 minutes behind, while Henk Lategan came in third, 2 minutes adrift.

The spotlight, however, was on Yazeed Al Rajhi, who secured the overall victory. Al Rajhi became the first Saudi driver to win the Dakar Rally, doing so on home soil. This marked Toyota’s fourth overall Dakar win but the first for the Overdrive Racing team. Partnered with Timo Gottschalk, Al Rajhi capitalized on his familiarity with the dunes to clinch the title.

Henk Lategan finished second overall, having led the rally for much of the event. Although he briefly lost the lead after stage nine, he reclaimed it before finally conceding to Al Rajhi in stage eleven. This result marks Lategan’s best Dakar finish to date.

Mattias Ekström claimed third place overall, an impressive result in the new Ford Raptor. The Swede was consistently fast and secured a stage win, achieving the best Dakar result of his career. Fourth place went to Nasser Al-Attiyah, whose hopes for victory were dashed by a navigational error in stage ten. Mitchell Guthrie rounded out the top five.

Tim and Tom Coronel were the fastest Dutch drivers in the final stage, finishing 28th. Earlier technical problems had taken them out of contention for the overall standings, though their Century CR7 showed potential for a strong finish. Dave and Tessa Klaassen faced similar setbacks; after mechanical issues in the penultimate stage, they finished 45th in the final stage.

In the overall standings, Ronald van Loon was the top Dutch finisher, taking 24th place alongside Erik Lemmen in their Red-Lined Revo T1+. They placed 39th in the final stage. Dakar rookie Rik van den Brink secured an impressive 34th place overall, a result to be proud of, with a 42nd place finish in the last stage. Maik Willems finished 35th overall, taking 41st place in the final stage. Stefan Carmans wrapped up his Dakar with 38th overall and the 47th fastest time on the final day.

As always, Dakar proved unpredictable until the very end. Aliyyah Koloc learned this the hard way, spending over two hours stuck in the dunes during the final stage.

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