Al Rajhi, Sanders lead, South Africans star on Day 3
The gloves came off and the sandbagging was over, as Dakar 2025 headed into its second day and the first part of this year’s 48H Chrono stage on Saturday. But it was still a Toyota out front as Saudi home hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk led Qatari 5-time Da-kar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah and Frenchman Edouard Boulanger’s Dacia Sandrider and Swedes Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist’s Raptor on Sunday evening.
Australian overnight leader Daniel Sanders meanwhile continued to make Dakar’s 2025 bile race his own, with a third straight win on the first day of the 48H Chrono stage. Bot-swana hero Ross Branch is sitting pretty in third however, while South African Rally 2 rid-er Michael Docherty thrashed his class favourite rivals.
The 48H Chrono stage came early at Dakar in 2025. Run over two days without any out-side assistance, crews can only rely on one another to do any repairs once they reported to the closest of six overnight rest areas to them after 5 pm. The Chrono stage also sees the bikes racing a different route to the cars.
Attiyah stopped sandbagging on Sunday
The morning started with Al-Rajhi leading Attiyah. With South Africans Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy’s Toyota Gazoo Hilux third. It was soon clear that both Dacia and Ford had been sandbagging on the Prologue and opening day, as Attiyah and Ekström had Al Rajhi under pressure.
Botterill dropped back, Gazoo teammates Saood Variawa and Frenchman Francois Cazalet lost half an hour and Saturday’s leaders Seth Quintero and Guerlain Chicherit languished on the verges of the Sunday top 20. Ford suffered an early blow when 2024 and 4-time winner, Spaniard Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz rolled their Raptor and were stranded in the desert for half an hour.
Then came the dunes, where Al Attiyah took control with Dacia teammate Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s Sandrider up to second. Back to the tracks, Al Rajhi hit back to lead Al Attiyah with the Fords of Nani Roma and Alex Haro and Ekstrom and Bergkvist. But Loeb was in trouble, losing 25 minutes, as leading crews approached the first of their 48H Chrono overnight accommodation digs options.
Bike heroes Price impressed again on Car Day 3
Behind them, former bike legends, Aussie Toby Price and Brit Sam Sunderland contin-ued to impress on their four wheel debut at the head of a four Hilux train. It comprised South African crews, Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings, Botterill and Murphy and Giniel de Villiers and German Dirk von Zitzewitz, with another SA crew, Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century CR7 tenth.
By the time the clock struck five in Saudi Arabia, thirteen cars had passed through the penultimate overnight option and raced on to the final point. Among the leaders had however not reached the penultimate point and would camp at the point they had reached. So the clearest look at the results is to consider the penultimate point, where Al Rajhi led Al Attiyah by a minute, with Ekstrom a further eight minutes behind.
Running well back in the field, Argentine duo Juan Cruz Yacopini and Daniel Oliveras’ Hi-lux came home a stealthy fourth from Lithuanians Rokas Baciuska and Oriol Mena, and Gazoo two, Lategan and Botterill in a Hilux 4-5-6-7. Roma was eighth in his Ford from Price and de Villiers’ Hiluxes, and Century duo, Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier, and Baragwanath.
Baragwanath is going well for Century
So, not only did a South African car win, but there were nine made-in-SA cars in the top twelve. Overall, home hero Al Rajhi now leads Attiyah, Lategan, Ekstrom, Botterill and Price. Roma, de Villiers, De Mevius and Baragwanath close off the top ten.
Moving onto the bikes, 2024 World Rally Raid bike champion Ross Branch was quick out of the blocks to lead the early running on his Hero Moto, ahead of Australian overnight leader Daniel Sanders’ Red Bull KTM, American Honda riders, 2024 winner Ricky Brabec and Skyler Howes, Luciano Benavides’ KTM and rookie Rally 2 leader Edgar Canet. Sand-ers led Howes, Brabec and Branch at mid distance.
The top positions ebbed and flowed as the day progressed, while Spaniard Tosha Scha-reina’s Honda joined the posse up front. South African Michael Docherty, who dusted himself off after a heavy Saturday fall soon took moved into the Rally 2 lead as the riders approached the first of their bivouac options. Sanders led Brabec, Branch, Howes and Schareina at the close of play, with Luciano Benavides’ KTM sixth, ahead of Docherty.
SA rider Docherty on a Rally 2 Day 3 charge
South Africans, top privateer Bradley Cox sat 14th on his KTM, Aaron Mare provisionally 37th on his Husqvarna, and rookies Dwain Barnard’s KTM 73rd and Willem Avenant 116th on his Husqvarna. Overall Sanders leads Brabec by five and a half minutes with Branch just four seconds off. Cox is tenth, and Docherty 15th, third in class and closing down on Rally 2 leader Canet.
Elsewhere, Argentine duo Nicolás Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini lead Goncalo Guerrero and Cadu Sachs’ similar Taurus in the T3 Challenger class. And it’s a Polaris 1-2 in T4 Side by Sides, where French pair Xavier De Soultrait and Martin Bonnet lead US youngsters Brock Heger and Max Eddy.
Martin Macik, David Svanda and Frantisek Tomasek meanwhile provisionally lead the trucks aboard an MM, ahead of Mitchel van den Brink, Jarno van de Pol and Moises Torrallardona, and 2024 winner Ales Loprais, David Kripal and Darek Rodewald’s Ivecos.
Ross Branch sitting pretty on his Hero
Monday’s race distance depends on which of the seven bivouacs the crews reached on Sunday. For the leaders, it’s about a 250 km jaunt back to Bisha, and a hint of civilisation.
