Sa-built Toyota Gazoo Hiluxes Take Spectacular Dakar Rally 1-2

Saudi home hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalks Toyota Hilux sailed through Fridays short final dune stage to win the Dakar 2025 Car race by just under four minutes from South Africans Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings Toyota Gazoo Hilux.

Another South African, Michael Docherty once again beat the Rally GP machines to take a second Bike win Friday, while Aussie Daniel Sanders incredibly led the two wheeler race from start to finish to claim KTMs 20th victory.

Second on Friday, Swedes Mattias Ekstrm and Emil Bergkvists Ford Raptor likewise held day winners Qatari 5-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah and Frenchman Edouard Boulanger in their Dacia Sandrider off for third overall and best of the new Dakar teams this year.

US youngster Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch followed in another Ford Raptor, while French crew Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier were a happy sixth in their South African Factory Century CR7. Argentine Juan Cruz Yacopini and Daniel Oliveras Hilux, Portuguese Mini crew Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro, American Gazoo Hilux duo Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz and South Africans Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremers Century CR7 closed off the top ten.

While it was a huge win for home hero Al-Rajhi, it was a heartbreaking result for Lategan and Cummings, whose losing deficit was considerably less than the time they lost after Dakar officials nullified a sector of a stage due to a wrong route instruction. Dakar 2025 was however a huge success for South African Toyota Hilux teams with eight stage wins and four cars in the top ten.