D-Day for the 2025 Dakar in Saudi Arabia. The prologue of this edition has just ended for the auto category. Discover the ranking and the position of the favorites for final victory, Sébastien Loeb in particular.
It’s officially time for the Dakar 2025. This Friday, January 3, the prologue of the event took place. It was a 79 km loop including 29 km of special. An appetizer which does not count for the general classification but which allows the first 10 in the classification to choose their starting position for the 1st stage on Saturday. A stage in the Bisha region of 499 km including 413 km of special.
The ranking of the prologue of the Dakar 2025
- Henk Lategan – Brett Cummings / Toyota Gazoo Racing
- Mattias Ekstrom – Emil Bergkvist / Ford M-Sport
- Nasser Al-Attiyah – Édouard Boulanger / Dacia Sandriders
- Rokas Baciuska – Oriol Mena / Overdrive Racing
- Brian Baraggwanath – Leonard Cremer / Century Racing Factory Team
- Sébastien Loeb – Fabian Lurquin / Dacia Sandriders
- Lucas Moraes – Armand Monleon / Toyota Gazoo Racing
- Nani Roma – Alex Haro / Ford M-Sport
- Saood Variawa – François Cazalet / Toyota Gazoo Racing
- Guerlain Chicherit – Alex Winocq / X-Raid Mini JCW Team
Carlos Sainz, the defending champion, finished 24th. Guillaume de Mévius, 2nd in the 2024 Dakar, suffered a puncture during the prologue. He finished 40th.
What performance for Sébastien Loeb?
Sébastien Loeb put in a great performance in this prologue, finishing 3 seconds behind Nasser Al-Attiyah, his teammate at Dacia. In the ranking, he is 6th. Remember that this prologue does not count for the general ranking. By finishing in the Top 10, Sébastien Loeb can choose his position for Saturday’s stage, the 1st of this 2025 edition.
Drivers’ reactions at the finish
Sébastien Loeb
“We rode well, we didn’t have any particular problems in the special so nothing to report. It was not an easy prologue in terms of navigation. There were quite a few intersections to find so it wasn’t that easy. We did a decent special”
Nasser Al-Attiyah
Upon arrival of the prologue on the L’Équipe channel:
“The prologue went well. It’s very hard. There were a lot of trees. We were the first car, Edouard did a good job (Editor’s note: Boulanger, his co-pilot). I’m quite happy. We will give our best.”
On the starting position for the 1st stage on Saturday
“The best starting position for Saturday, for the moment I don’t know. If we win the prologue today, we might start behind tomorrow.”
Carlos Sainz
The defending champion declared himself satisfied with his prologue even if he was relegated almost a minute behind Nasser Al-Attiyah. However, his body language suggested that something was wrong with his Ford:
“The prologue went well. We didn’t have any problems but the track wasn’t easy to see. We rode well, calmly.”
William of Mevius
Carlos Sainz’s runner-up in 2024 lost 4 minutes on Nasser Al-Attiyah, the leader of this prologue when the Belgian crossed the finish line. He suffered a puncture but wanted to be positive for the rest of the race:
“The feeling is good with the car. It’s a good refresher on the region. I had never driven around Bisha. I had been warned that there were stones in the sand, that it would not It wasn’t easy. I have the urge to tell myself that tomorrow we will have to be careful. I’m not too worried we might start in front but that doesn’t scare us. race and we’re going to do it step by step.”
Belgium
