Yazeed Al-Rajhi și Daniel Sanders, campioni la Dakar
Yazeed Al-Rajhi, representing the Overdrive team, has made history by winning the Dakar Rally in the Auto category, securing his first-ever victory in the event.
The rally took place in Saudi Arabia, Al-Rajhi’s home country, where he triumphed over his closest rival, South African Henk Lategan.
Al-Rajhi finished the final stage of the rally in 13th place, a leg held near the town of Shubaytah. Lategan, driving for Toyota, placed third in this stage. Despite the narrow gap of just two minutes and 14 seconds between them in the final stage, Al-Rajhi managed to hold onto his overall lead, finishing ahead of Lategan by three minutes and 57 seconds in the final standings. This victory marks Al-Rajhi’s first Dakar Rally championship.
Australian motorcyclist Daniel Sanders, riding for KTM, also claimed his first title. Although he finished sixth in the final stage, it was enough to secure the overall championship. His main rival, Spain’s Tosha Schareina from Honda, placed fourth in the stage, with a margin of only 10 seconds. In the final classification, Sanders defeated Schareina by a margin of eight minutes and 50 seconds.
In the Truck category, Czech driver Martin Macik from MM Technology took the title. Macik, who finished sixth in the final stage, comfortably won the overall competition with a commanding lead of two hours, 21 minutes, and 13 seconds over Dutch driver Mitchel van den Brink of Eurol Rallysport.
This marked the 47th edition of the Dakar Rally and the sixth time the event was hosted in Saudi Arabia.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
