Lategan leads, Docherty the bike star, Branch strong
South African competitors headlined in both the car and bike sections of Dakar’s epic 1000 km two-day 2025 48H Chrono stage Sunday and Monday. SA Champions Henk Lategan and Brian Cummings powered their Made in SA Toyota Gazoo Hilux into the lead following a tactical race to third in the Chrono stage behind local hero, Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk and Qatari 5-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah and Frenchman Edouard Boulanger’s Dacia Sandrider.
Meanwhile on two wheels, Australian KTM hero South African Michael Docherty was the hero of the day as he led the way on real time en route to a splendid Rally 2 win, while
Botswana’s Ross Branch enjoyed another positive ride to fifth as Aussie Daniel Sanders took the first hat trick of Dakar bike stage wins since 2017 to extend his unbeaten streak. Even if the 2025 bike race appears to have become something more a bracket race than a speed contest, as riders jockeyed to maximise Dakar’s bonus time system.
Serradori sped to a fine Chrono fifth in the Century
Having spent the night in one of the seven no-assistance 48H Chrono overnight rest areas, those who made it there started the second half of the stage bright and early Monday morning, with the leaders facing a relatively short 250 kilometre odd dash to back to a degree of civilization at Bisha in the Saudi desert. Al-Rajhi and Al-Attiyah led Swedes Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist’s Ford Raptor at the break on Sunday evening. Attiyah shaved valuable seconds out his deficit, while Lategan and Toyota Gazoo Hilux teammates Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy loomed large behind in thick dust,
But Eriksson and Botterill lost their way in the second sector, while Lategan’s pace soon saw him into the virtual overall lead over Al Rajhi and Attiyah. Sebastien Loeb was also on the move and then Roma was in trouble, stopped with a mechanical issue as he waited for Ford assistance. There was drama late in the stage when the Toyotas of de Villiers and Saood Variawa collided in thick dust, but both crews were fine as they tried to repair their bakkies.
Al Rajhi held Attiyah off for the Chrono win
Away from the drama, Al Rajhi duly brought it home to clinch the Chrono 48H victory from Attiyah and Lategan with Baciuska, Serradori, Yacopini and Ekstrom. Overall, Lategan, Cummings and their Made in SA Hilux now lead Dakar 2025 by 2 minutes 45 from Al Rajhi with Al Attiyah third from Ekstrom. The hugely impressive Price and Sunderland follow from Loeb, who has bounced back to sixth.
On two wheels, overnight leader Sanders led 2024 winner, Californian Ricky Brabec’s Honda and Botswana World Champion Branch on his Hero Moto. Bonus hero Spaniard Tosha Schareina amassed nearly eight minutes of handout time to move up to fourth from Honda teammate Skyler Howes, while rookie Edgar Canet moved ahead of South African Michael Docherty in Rally 2, and SA privateer Bradley Cox sat 12th on their KTMs.
Sanders piled on the pressure as the day wore on, while Howes moved up to second, but South African Rally 2 star Docherty was the real man on the move in third. And that without any bonus time assistance. Otherwise Docherty would have led the stage from the bonus-assisted Sanders, Luciano Benavides, Branch, Brabec and second Rally 2 lad Canet, 100 km from home.
Sanders remains unbeaten on the bikes
That last sector shook things up a little as Sanders stormed home to the first Dakar bike stage hat trick in eight years. Behind him Honda rider Adrien van Beveren truly mastered the art of gathering bonus time to pop up in second thanks to those gimme ten and a half minutes, from Howes. The other bonus master Schareina followed from Branch, Benavides and Rally 2 hero Docherty, who slipped back to sixth but still won his class.
That leaves Sanders in a twelve and a half minute Dakar lead from Howes, with Branch and Schareina within ten seconds, and Brabec not far off in fifth. Top privateer Brad Cox sits 11th overall, while Docherty moves up to second behind Edgar Canet in Rally 2 in 13th overall. Their SA compatriots, Aron Mare provisionally rides in 34th, Dwain Barnard 64th and Willem Avenant 112th.
SA rider Docherty the real Chrono bike hero
Many observers remain puzzled by a Dakar bonus system that appears to skew the results, which could so easily be averted by simply allowing the top ten to choose their starting positions. Now that would be real racing! Another monster 495 km stage of dirt, gravel and sand awaits as Dakar 2025 finally packs up from Bisha and heads to Al Henakiyah on Tuesday.
